Clockwork orange: How two-point king Sherlock has reignited Rebels

The Barrs' clubman's accuracy from outside the mark has been ket to Cork's run to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. 

DOWNTOWN: Steven Sherlock of Cork celebrates kicking a two-point score against Meath at Páirc Uí Rinn. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Eight orange flags in back-to-back Sam Maguire outings got us thinking. If Steven Sherlock can so frequently find the space and sweet spot to land four two-pointers against both the Division 1 and 2 League champions in mid-summer, just how many has he lasered over since the game’s rulebook was rewritten at the beginning of last year?

Perhaps nobody in the Páirc Uí Rinn crowd of 8,526 three weeks ago realised  that when Sherlock raised a second orange flag in the space of 31 seconds to complete an 11-point swing for the hosts in the 10 minutes after half-time, the two-pointer represented his 50th across club and inter-county fare.

Add to that his stunning two-pointer late on the same day to ensure 14-man Cork held out against Meath and his subsequent four at Ballybofey on Saturday and you have the grand total of 55 Steven Sherlock orange flags this past year and a half.

We’re open to correction, of course, but we so seriously doubt that there is another forward out there, operating at the highest level for both club and county, who has successfully come outside the 40-metre arc on 55 occasions since the arc was first painted onto every football field in the country.

If this piece reads a little numbers-heavy, there are no apologies from this corner. Sherlock’s phenomenal numbers are the selling point. The weight they carry in Cork’s run to a first All-Ireland quarter-final appearance since 2023 are indisputable.

After a year out, Sherlock made his return to red 53 minutes into their League opener at home to Cavan. Trailing, Cork were in desperate need of a jump-start.

His first kick at the City End posts came from outside the arc. It tailed left and wide. It didn’t deter him a jot. His second effort brought immediate orange and accelerated the red revival. His second orange flag - from a free he won while attempting to land a two-pointer - completed their opening-day escape.

That League opener was the sole Cork fixture in 2026 Sherlock did not start. They’ve played 13 in total. He’s amassed and top-scored with 0-87 across those 13 games.

Within that 0-87 are 20 orange flags. Eleven of his two-pointers arrived during the League, with nine more added in the championship to date.

A further breakdown of the 20 orange flags show 13 being kicked from open play, the remaining seven filed under the dead-ball category. He is responsible for 51% of Cork’s 39 two-pointers this season.

His orange flags have taken many forms. The weekend gone in Ballybofey, his first-half pair were critical in keeping the interval gap within reachable means. His pair early in the second half against Meath played lead roles in the flipping of an eight-point interval gap.

The most recent eight follow a Munster final where the Kerry defence reduced the 29-year-old to peripheral status. His response was best captured by inside teammate Chris Óg Jones.

“Steve, one thing he definitely doesn't lack is confidence anyway. He backs himself 100% and it's something I actually admire massively about him. He could go out and kick 10 wides, and he'll stay kicking. And then the next day he'd go out and he could kick 15 points, that's just the way he is. It's a brilliant trait to have, really, to have that confidence in yourself,” said Jones.

It’s a trait that wasn’t available to Cork in 2025. After deciding to remove himself from the inter-county scene, Sherlock lined out exclusively in Barrs blue. The Togher outfit enjoyed a two-point boon for having him.

In the club’s run to Division 1 League glory, Sherlock kicked 17 two-pointers - nine from play, eight from the placed-ball - across six games.

Onto the county senior championship and there were eight more - five frees, two from play, and an outrageous sideline - during the Barrs’ six-game run to Andy Scannell glory. In the subsequent Munster campaign, the captain squeezed in 10 across three winter weekends.

His final outing in blue before a return to red - six two-pointers from seven attempts in a sensational 0-16 Munster club final contribution - provided the strongest indication of an outside-the-arc threat that Cork are now feasting on.

His 2025 total, across 15 league and championship outings, was 7-147. Within that were 35 two-pointers. The breakdown: 20 from play, 14 from frees, and one from the stand sideline of Páirc Uí Rinn.

Colin Corkery, on these pages earlier this year, labelled Sherlock a potential game-changer in the redrawn Gaelic football landscape.

“You have to play the flair players really to win knock-out games. If you want to be winning qualifier games, if you want to get to Croke Park, you need them,” said Corkery. His words have so far proven prophetic.

Sherlock told the Irish Examiner last October how the new rules had “reignited” him. He and his two-pointers are now reigniting Cork.