JAMES THE TOAST OF ALL STARS

JAMES O’Donoghue added the East Kerry SFC Football of the Year accolade to the much cherished Dr O’Donoghue Cup medal he won in December, at the annual East Kerry GAA All Stars banquet last Friday.

Over 200 guests were in attendance at the Brehon Hotel to see the 10th East Kerry All Star team named, as well as the individual player awards being bestowed.

It was no surprise that Legion dominated the 2019 All Star team with six players making the 15, with O’Donoghue joined by defenders Podge O’Connor, Cian Gammell, Rob Leen, Jonathan Lyne and Kieran Slattery on the team.

Beaten O’Donoghue Cup finalists, Dr Crokes, had four players honoured on the team - Shane Murphy, Daithi Casey, Micheal Burns and Tony Brosnan - while Spa (2), Gneeveguilla, Glenflesk and Kilcummin completed the team.

O’Donoghue has won almost every honour in the game, including an All-Ireland SFC medal with Kerry, and the inter-county Footballer of the Year award - both in 2014 - but the 29-year-old said his first O’Donoghue Cup medal was one of the sweetest of the lot.

“It’s a fantastic medal to have,” O’Donoghue told The Kerryman on Friday. “The rest of the county probably don’t understand it because they probably don’t have the same emphasis on their divisional championship, which speaks so highly of the East Kerry one, but it’s so hard to win.

“We were very, very aware (of how special it is) because we got to the final in 2013, ’14, ’15, ’17 and again in ’19 to finally win the final. We fully realised how hard it was to win a final and how long it was since we won it before. As a team we had won nothing so every year we said (the O’Donoghue Cup) is the one we really want to win because it would bring the club closer together, it would be a monkey off our back, it would be silverware, and it would just be important for the club. “

O’Donoghue’s Legion team mate, Cian Gammell, was named the Young (U-21) Footballer of the Year, while the Intermediate Championship (Fr Galvin Cup) Player of the Year award went to Padraig Doyle from Gneeveguilla.

The East Kerry Board presented their Personality of the year award to East Kerry senior team manager Jerry O’Sullivan, while Kilcummin GAA stalwart

Billy Doolan was inducted into the

Hall of Fame.

Eamon Whelan Vice Chairman Kerry County Board, Padraig Doyle Fr Galvin Intermediate Cup Player of the Year, Ger Galvin President EKB, Eoin Horan Gleneagle Hotel Aquila Club sponsors, Johnny Brosnan Chairman East Kerry GAA Board, Paul Brennan Sports Editor The Kerryman sponsors, Jerry O’Sullivan EK Person of the Year Award winner, James O’Donoghue Senior Player of the Year, Cian Gammell Under 21 Player of the Year, Billy Doolan Hall of Fame Award winner (centre row from left) Dermot O’Connor EKB Asst.Secretary, Noel Kennedy EKB Secretary, Podge O’Connor Killarney Legion, Jonathon Lyne Killarney Legion, Daithi Casey Dr Crokes, Dara Roche Glenflesk, Liam Kearney Spa, Owen Fitzgerald Gneeveguilla, Evan Cronin Spa, Tony Brosnan Dr Crokes, Rob Leen Killarney Legion, Noreen O’Connor Cronin Childrens Officer, Niall Botty O’Callaghan MC, Gary O’Halloran EKB Hurling Officer (back from left) Eddie Horan Scartaglen, Tom Moriarty Killarney Legion, Sean Óg Ó Ciardubhían Cordal, Shane O’Sullivan Gneeveguilla, Darragh Lyne Killarney Legion, Paul O’Shea Kilcummin, Garrett O’Connor Currow and Brendan O’Keeffe Rathmore at the Dr O’Donoghue Cup East Kerry All Stars Awards 2020 Gala Banguet in The Brehon, Killarney on Friday Photo by Michelle Cooper Galvin