Top Scorer

[moysider]

Any ideas who will finish up top scorer in the championship 09? Think it was John Doyle last year. Michael Meehan looks one of the more likely ones.  Meehan plays London this weekend and should score heavily. You would expect Galway to have at least 4 games this Summer.

[whiskeysteve]

Yeah Meehan must be favourite, dont think theres another stand out candidate in Connaught though.

Speaking from a northern perspective, Paddy Bradley and Tommy Freeman would be his nearest Ulster rivals. You wouldnt expect many games from Down, Cavan or Antrim. Fermanagh dont score much and Donegal dont seem to have a consistent candidate, maybe McFadden or Murphy but I dont think they will be up there with Bradley or Freeman. Armagh free takers dont score that much from play and Tyrone can score heavily but with a good spread of scores, though a fully fit O'Neill would definitely be in contention. That leaves Derry and Monaghan who have clear leading scorers in the Bradleys, Freeman and Finlay, with Tommy and Paddy out in front.

From the rest of the country Cork seem to have a good spread of scorers as do Kerry but you would have to fancy the Gooch to be up there, maybe one of Donnacha O'Connor or Daniel Goulding. Harder to predict how Leinster teams will do, being a more competitive province than Munster or Connaught, but think John Doyle is definitely in contention. I dont think Wexford will do as well this year so not including Mattie Forder.

So heres my list of contenders, im sure its missing someone!

Meehan
Paddy Bradley
Freeman
O'Neill
Gooch
O'Connor/Goulding
John Doyle

Had a look at the odds on Ladbrokes, Eoin Bradley at 50/1 is good value IMO. He was Derrys best forward in the league, think he just scored a couple less than Paddy. Also think he is due to have a big championship as the signs are he has really come on under Cassidy. Colm McCullagh and Mark Vaughan are also available at 50/1

[Our Nail Loney]

Funny I just pm'd SidelineKick and corn02 about this very thing this morning as I am looking to have a couple bets on this... Also the player of the year betting which can be very heavily influenced by high scoring...

Meehan has to be in with a shout big time and if Derry are going to go as far as they would like then Paddy Bradley should be up there, maybe even Eoin too??

[highorlow]

Is Meehan not injured?

[whiskeysteve]

Funny I just pm'd SidelineKick and corn02 about this very thing this morning as I am looking to have a couple bets on this... Also the player of the year betting which can be very heavily influenced by high scoring...

Meehan has to be in with a shout big time and if Derry are going to go as far as they would like then Paddy Bradley should be up there, maybe even Eoin too??

What counts against Eoin is that he doesnt take the frees. Paddy B from the right and Barry McGoldrick/Mark Lynch from the left. Even if Paddy goes off James Kielt may be elected to take them from the right.

However he scored 18 in the league and I think he will improve more than most of the other contenders with summer football. Also he is probably Derrys top goal scorer at present, though we have been short on green flags.

Its not likely but 50/1 is very good value IF you have Derry down to have a good championship

[Our Nail Loney]

Is Meehan not injured?

Where did ya hear this?? If he is then this will seriously influence my bets

[ildanach]

the gooch is normally a good bet

[AFS]

Armagh free takers dont score that much from play

Steven McDonnell?

I expect him to have a very good year in what could be his last. Though, I don't think we'll get far enough to allow him to get close to top scorer 

[D4S]

What about the guy Carson with the terrible nickname.....Blobby?  He scored 0-6 on Sunday for fermanagh!

[whiskeysteve]

Armagh free takers dont score that much from play

Steven McDonnell?

I expect him to have a very good year in what could be his last. Though, I don't think we'll get far enough to allow him to get close to top scorer 

Sorry lad, just assumed the Kernans were taking frees for armagh who dont score much from play. TBH havent been following who's been scoring for armagh all that closely this league but for some reason had it in my head that mcdonnell wasnt playing up to his usual and seem to remember some folks giving out about his free taking, but could be dead wrong there.

In fairness, I would have mcdonnell in there but for the fact that I think himself and armagh might be in slight decline.

Then again, armagh seem to have been getting pegged as in decline for years now!

[AFS]

Armagh free takers dont score that much from play

Steven McDonnell?

I expect him to have a very good year in what could be his last. Though, I don't think we'll get far enough to allow him to get close to top scorer 

Sorry lad, just assumed the Kernans were taking frees for armagh who dont score much from play. TBH havent been following who's been scoring for armagh all that closely this league but for some reason had it in my head that mcdonnell wasnt playing up to his usual and seem to remember some folks giving out about his free taking, but could be dead wrong there.

In fairness, I would have mcdonnell in there but for the fact that I think himself and armagh might be in slight decline.

Then again, armagh seem to have been getting pegged as in decline for years now!

He seems to have been showing patches of top form again recently, and I think his free taking is more consistent now. I've no doubt he'll finish as Armagh's top scorer this year but sure we might only get 2 or 3 games. Maybe if we got a couple of handy draws in the qualifiers and Stevie knocked in a few goals you never know, but I wouldn't be rushing out to put any money on it 

[tyssam5]

Has anyone a list of winners from past years?

[Qwerty28]

Or prices for this year? Nothing on boyles or pp. Think Meehan might be worth a few quid alright

[118cmal]

There's prices on Ladbrokes, but I can't access them where I am at the min.  Can anyone post them?

Think Meehan and gooch are favs at around 8s

[Our Nail Loney]

Bet365:

C Cooper (Kerry)    7/1
Paddy Bradley (Derry)    8/1
D Goulding (Cork)    8/1
M Meehan (Galway)    8/1
S O'Neill (Tyrone)    9/1
J Doyle (Kildare)    10/1
C Mortimer (Mayo)    12/1
A Brogan (Dublin)    20/1
M Forde (Wexford)    20/1
S McDonnell (Armagh)    20/1
C Ward (Meath)    20/1
S Cavanagh (Tyrone)    20/1
T Freeman (Monaghan)    25/1
MJ Tierney (Laois)    25/1
C McCullagh (Tyrone)    33/1
C Keaney (Dublin)    33/1
D Dolan (Westmeath)    33/1
M Doherty (Donegal)    33/1
P Joyce (Galway)    33/1
N McNamee (Offaly)    33/1
R Carson (Fermanagh)    33/1
I Ryan (Limerick)    40/1
C McFadden (Donegal)    40/1
C Lyng (Wexford)    40/1
S Bray (Meath)    40/1
A Marren (Sligo)    50/1
A Carr (Down)    50/1
B Coulter (Down)    50/1
S Johnston (Cavan)    50/1
Denis Glennon (Westmeath)    80/1
B Kavanagh (Longford)    100/1
P Earls (Wicklow)    100/1

Boylesports:

Meehan, Micheal    6/1
O'Neill, Stephen    7/1
Cooper, Colm    8/1
Mortimer, Conor    10/1
Goulding, Daniel    10/1
Bradley, Paddy    12/1
O'Connor, Donnacha    12/1
Doyle, John    12/1
Cavanagh, Sean    16/1
Mcdonnell, Steven    25/1
Ward, Cian    25/1
Carr, Aidan    33/1
Mcfadden, Colm    33/1
Freeman, Tommy    33/1
Sheehan, Bryan    33/1
Ryan, Ian    33/1
Brogan, Alan    33/1
Vaughan, Mark    33/1
Tierney, Mj    33/1
Mcnamee, Niall    33/1
Forde, Matt    33/1
Dolan, Dessie    33/1
Clarke, Ronan    50/1
Coulter, Benny    50/1
Finlay, Paul    50/1
Johnston, Sean    66/1
Breheny, Mark    66/1
Heneghan, Ger    66/1