Cully leads the way in SFC scoring charts after group stages

The dust has settled on the group stages of the Joe Mallon Motors Kildare Senior Football Championship and, despite Carbury's early exit, Eoin Cully tops the scoring charts.

Carbury finished bottom of Group B after defeats to Maynooth, Sarsfields and Caragh, but Cully was a standout performer throughout. He accounted for 2-24 of his side's total return of 4-31 across their three outings.

Remarkably, 2-11 of Cully's tally came from play, leaving him just two points behind the championship's leading scorer from open play, Colm Dalton. The Sallins forward has amassed 2-13, all from play.

Paddy Mahoney's scoring exploits in Maynooth's final-round defeat to Sarsfields propelled him into second place overall. His haul of 1-10 in that game leaves him among the championship's most prolific forwards heading into the knockout stages.

Naas’ Darragh Kirwan and Raheens star Paddy Woodgate complete the top five scorers with 19 points apiece. Kirwan has recorded 1-16, with just a single point from a free, with Woodgate registering 0-19.

Interestingly, only four of the first 13 in the scoring charts will feature in the quarter-finals – Mahoney, Kirwan, Woodgate and Celbridge’s Aaron Browne.

The race for two-point honours is also headed by Cully, who shares top spot with Woodgate and Johnstownbridge's Daragh Sloane. All three have struck five two-pointers. Four of Cully's came from frees, while every one of Sloane's efforts from beyond the arc was scored from play.

Woodgate's two-point tally includes what was one of the most significant scores of the group stages, his late winner against Sallins in the opening round ultimately proving decisive in the final standings.

Sallins sharpshooter Cian Grimes sits just behind the leading trio with four two-pointers, all from play, while Allenwood's Eoin Bagnall has also registered four, split evenly between play and frees.

Celbridge's Peter McAteer leads the goalscoring charts after finding the net three times. The supersub struck three goals across the opening two rounds against Allenwood and Johnstownbridge before starting the final group game against Clane, where he added a point to his championship tally.

Cully, Mahoney and Dalton are among a group of nine players who have scored two goals during the group stages. They are joined by Ben Fitzsimons of Eadestown, Clane's Adam Fitzpatrick and Sarsfields forward Conor O'Donovan, Celbridge's James Dolan, Caragh's Dan Lynam and Dermot Hanafin of Naas.