Nominations for Irish Independent Young Sportstar of the Year
DAVID CLIFFORD
IN A COUNTY like Kerry where exceptionally gifted forwards have always rolled off the production line, it takes a special talent to electrify the public.
David Clifford succeeded in doing that as he marked his first senior inter-county season with a series of outstanding performances, which earned him an All-Star award at right full-forward. The 19-year-old Fossa clubman was also chosen as the Young Footballer of the Year.
His super skills first came to national prominence when he played a crucial role in Kerry’s All-Ireland minor successes in 2016 and 2017, leaving his promotion to the senior squad this year as inevitable.
While Kerry failed to qualify from the ‘Super 8s’, it certainly wasn’t Clifford’s fault. He scored a total of 4-14 (3-12 from play) against Galway, Monaghan and Kildare, including a memorable goal against the Farney, in the second round, before closing out the season by scoring 2-6 (1-5 from play) in another top-class display against Kildare.
KYLE HAYES
LIMERICK’S poise and control under the weight of
All-Ireland final pressure resembled that of grizzled veterans and no one summed up their attitude more than
Kyle Hayes.
The 20-year-old embraced the big occasion and four exquisite points from play helped him collect man of the match in his first All-Ireland senior hurling final appearance.
It capped a remarkable year for the Treaty centre-forward who also went on to claim Young Hurler of the Year – not bad for a rookie who played in the 2016 All-Ireland minor final.
The Kildimo-Pallaskenry ace helped to transform the Treaty attack from centre-forward and was a vital cog in John Kiely’s side as they also earned promotion from Division 1B.
As with most modern-day No 11s, Hayes adopts a deeper role to regularly assist his defence. He’s also an effective weapon under puck-outs as well as being a brilliant score-taker and ball-carrier.
SARAH HEALY
AS EARLY as
February, the signs were there – a signal sent out from an indoor track in Abbotstown that Sarah Healy was about to have herself one hell of a year.
Having just turned 17, the Dubliner obliterated Rio Olympian Kerry O’Flaherty to win the Irish senior indoor 3000m title in 9:10.43, carving an absurd 18 seconds off the Irish U-20 indoor record.
That was only the start. In June, she ran 4:09.25 for 1500m – a time only one U-18 athlete in the world (Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok, who ran 4:11.00) has come within five seconds of this year.
In July, Healy went to Gyor in Hungary and made a late decision to enter the 3000m in addition to usual event, the 1500m, at the European U-18 Championships. She won gold in both with breathtaking ease.
Carefully managed by coach Eoghan Marnell, Healy’s training is far from excessive for one so accomplished and she still plays hockey for much of the year with both her school and club.
JORDAN LARMOUR
THE 21-year-old began last season with the sole aim of breaking into
Leinster’s ‘A’ team and finished it by becoming the youngest Grand
Slam winner in
Irish history, a Champions Cup and PRO14 winner, while he also played a key role in Ireland winning a first Test series on Australian soil since 1979.
Larmour made his international debut off the bench against Italy in the Six Nations last February and had an immediate impact. The former St Andrew’s student later saw off stiff competition to start in both of Leinster’s end-of-season finals before travelling down under with Ireland.
He scored eight tries in his 14 starts for Leinster last year and has since brought that scintillating form into this season, which has seen him nominated for World Rugby’s best emerging player award.
His unforgettable hat-trick against Italy in Chicago earlier this month then cemented his place as one of the game’s exciting young talents.
DONNACHA O’BRIEN
THE Irish Flat season was barely a couple of weeks old and Donnacha
O’Brien was still a teenager when he landed his first
Classic success aboard Saxon
Warrior for his father Aidan in the English 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
The following month he quickly doubled his tally when claiming the Epsom Oaks with a commanding display on Forever Together – again for his dad – before taking his first Irish Classic on Latrobe in the Irish Derby at the end of June. That success was made all the sweeter as his older brother Joseph was the victorious trainer as the younger O’Briens got one up on their dad on a famous day at the Curragh.
Donnacha reached another landmark when hitting 100 winners in a season for the first time at Dundalk in September on his way to becoming 2018 champion Flat jockey, 29 winners ahead of last year’s victor Colin Keane. The 20-year-old finished the season with 111 winners on the domestic front and continues to show nerves of steel riding some of the world’s most valuable horses.
TROY PARROTT
THE exploits of the
Ireland U-17 team in May’s European Championships provided a glimmer of hope in a dispiriting year for
Irish football.
Dubliner Parrott was to the forefront of that campaign, with his performances all the more impressive given that he was a year young for that age group.
The Belvedere product stepped up to deliver for Colin O’Brien’s side at the finals in England, with his dead ball prowess turning heads. In the group stage, he bagged Ireland’s winning goal against Denmark before opening the scoring in the victory over Bosnia that sealed a quarter-final berth.
In a controversial game with Holland, his equaliser ensured the game went to penalties where Ireland went out in shocking fashion when goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran received a second yellow card for encroaching. Still only 16, Parrott moved to Spurs full-time in the summer and has jumped up another rung, inspiring the U-19 team through the first phase of qualifying for next year’s Euros.