GAA
The Patrickswell man will be confident of breaking into the top twenty by the seasons end.
Aaron Gillane has moved into the top-25 of the all-time senior hurling Championship scoring charts after bagging 2-5 against Tipperary on Sunday.
Gillane’s goals helped Limerick past a dogged Tipp team whilst pushing the Patrickswell native further up the list.
The Limerick man is currently 25th on the record books.
The latest salvo took Gillane to 11-175 in the championship, coming at eight points per game from his 26 senior championship appearances.
Gillane has started in all but three of those encounters, his debut against Clare in 2017, against the same opponents the following year and in last year’s Munster final.
As Limerick’s recognised free-taker since 2018, he has amassed a large portion of that total from placed balls but has still added in 9-53 from play, including 3-9 from play in three outings this year.
He is the second highest Limerick player on the list, behind Shane Dowling (19th), who bagged 13-186 from his 32 championship appearances at a very similar ppg (7.9).
Already this year, Gillane has surpassed Limerick legends Eamonn Cregan (32nd), Mick Mackey (30st) and Gary Kirby (29th) on the list.
Offaly’s Brian Carroll was the latest to be passed by the inside forward with Johnny Dooley (Offaly), Paul Ryan (Dublin), Jason Forde (Tipperary) and James Young (Laois) all within seven points of the chasing Gillane.
Forde is the only one of those still playing, with the Silvermines man missing the recent clash of the counties through injury.
The two-time All-Star needs just thirteen scores to move into the top-20 where he would be within reach of former intercounty teammate Dowling.
Graeme Mulcahy holds 67th place with his entire tally of 10-79 coming from play.
Patrick Horgan will take the overall record this weekend as he sits just a single point behind Joe Canning. The Galway man took the accolade in his final appearance last June, taking the record held for eleven years by Henry Shefflin.
Eddie Keher had held the honour for thirty years prior to his county man surpassing him.
Horgan is somewhat ahead of Gillane with his tally of 22-500, having him 358 points ahead of the Limerick man.
There are six current players in the top-25 in the form of Horgan, who is 56 points clear of fourth place TJ Reid, Seamus Callanan (7th) Tony Kelly (12th) and Forde (21st).
But with time on his side and in the form of his life, don’t count out Gillane breaching the top ten in the next couple of years.