On top of their game
Wicklow hurlers in Team of the Year
WICKLOW hurling duo Warren Kavanagh and John Henderson have made the Christy Ring Cup Champion 15 side after a superb year of inter-county hurling for the Glenealy and Bray Emmets hurlers.
In a year that saw Wicklow reach the Kehoe Cup final, finish third in the NHL Division 2B and reached the Christy Ring Cup semi-final where they lost out to London in Dr Cullen Park, Kavanagh and Henderson were vital cogs in Seamus Murphy’s side’s wheels.
Last season Warren Kavanagh won a Senior double in club hurling and football with the success of Glenealy in the hurling and Rathnew in the football.
This season he has collected his Senior hurling title and will line out for Glenealy against Portlaoise in their opening Leinster Intermediate club clash in Joule Park Aughrim this Saturday.
John Henderson’s club season was restricted by injury, but he remains one of the finest defenders of his generation in the county. The Bray Emmets man claimed a three-in-a-row of Minor titles with his club in 2008, 09 and 2010 and did likewise in Senior in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Henderson made his debut for Wicklow in 2012 when he came on as a substitute in Aughrim in March against Kerry. He was also on the Wicklow team who lost out to London in the Christy Ring Cup final of that year.
Both men join a long list of Wicklow hurlers who have collected national awards for their explots on the hurling fields.
Wicklow Winners over the years are: 2005: Joe Murphy; 2006: Joe Murphy; 2007: Don Hyland; 2008: Jonathan O’Neill; 2009: Jeffrey Bermingham; 2010: Andy O’Brien and Jonathan O’Neill; 2011: Eamon Keirns, Stephen Kelly and Andy O’Brien; 2012: Eamon Kearns, Jonathan O’Neill and Ronan Keddy; 2013: Liam Kennedy; 2014: Stephen Kelly; 2015: Billy Cuddihy; 2016: Luke Maloney; 2017: Eamon Kearns and Andy O’Brien.