Kilmoyley lead the way with 13 Hurling All Star nominations
THE Abbeydorney GAA Complex is the venue on this Saturday night for the staging of the 2018 Kerry County Championship Hurling All Stars. The concept, which was initiated by the well-known hurling commentator Mike O’Halloran in 2013, has proved to be an outstanding success in terms of the recognition it gives to Kerry’s finest hurlers, and the social outlet it provides for their families and friends.
Since the beginning of the awards Kilmoyley, with 20 All Stars shared amongst 11 players, has been honoured more than any other club, with Daniel Collins having the distinction of being the only player to be honoured on all five occasions, in four different positions. He was also the Senior Player of the Year (2015), and the other recipients of this award were Darren Dineen (2013) Tom Murnane (2014), and Padraig Boyle (2016 and 2017).
Along with a Senior award there will be a Young Player of the Year, and the previous winners in this category were Brendan Brosnan (2013), Darragh Shanahan (2014), Michael O’Leary (2016) and Shane Conway (2015 & 2017).
All eight clubs have players nominated for this year’s awards with Kilmoyley topping the list with 13, while 19 of the 45 players nominated have previously won awards. The event this year will support a fundraiser for Killahan National School, which meets the needs of children who have been diagnosed with autism, and have recently opened a class for pupils who need specialised ASD.
Special guests and speakers on the night are All-Ireland winning captain Jimmy Deenihan and one of Kilmoyley’s most famous sporting sons, John Martin Brick.
NOMINATED PLAYERS
No.1. John B O’Halloran (Kilmoyley), Martin Stackpoole (Lixnaw), Adam O’Sullivan (Crotta)
No.2. Michael Quilter (Lixnaw), Daniel Finnegan (St Brendans), Sean Nolan (Kilmoyley)
No.3. James Godley (Kilmoyley), Stephen Power (Lixnaw), Sean Weir (Crotta)
No.4. Tommy Barrett (Causeway), Sean Murnane (Kilmoyley), Padraig Kearney (St Brendans)
No.5. Sean Leahy (Causeway), Robert Collins (Kilmoyley), Brendan Brosnan (Lixnaw)
No.6. Jason Diggins (Causeway), Darragh Shanahan (Lixnaw), Tom Murnane (Kilmoyley)
No.7. Evan Murphy (Causeway), Dougie Fitzelle (Kilmoyley) Ger Stackpoole (Lixnaw)
No.8 & No.9. Mikey Boyle (Ballyduff), Kieran McCarthy (Kilmoyley), Shane McElligott (Lixnaw), John Griffin (Lixnaw), Barry O’Mahony (Crotta), Jason Leahy (Causeway)
No.10. Philip Lucid (Ballyheigue), James O’Connor (Abbeydorney), Jordan Brick (Kilmoyley)
No.11. Bryan Murphy (Causeway), Daniel Collins (Kilmoyley), Jordan Conway (Crotta)
No.12. David Griffin (St Brendans), Sean Maunsell (Kilmoyley) Brian McAuliffe (Lixnaw)
No.13. Shane Conway (Lixnaw), Brendan O’Connor (St Brendans), Maurice O’Connor (Kilmoyley)
No.14. Brandon Barrett (Causeway), Shane Nolan (Crotta), Padraig Boyle (Ballyduff)
No.15. John Egan (St Brendans), Jack Goulding (Ballyduff), Joseph McElligott (Kilmoyley)