Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BE IN SAFE HANDS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ‘82
CIARAN STILL ON CLOUD 9
nominee will not be on the All-star team for the first time.
No goalkeeper has won a Footballer of the Year award of any description since 1982 when Offaly’s Martin Furlong claimed the Texaco version, the only one of its kind then.
Convention has been maintained for the Young Footballer of the Year award with three players shortlisted – Dublin starlet and strong favourite Con O’callaghan, Galway’s Micheal Daly and Sean Powter of Cork.
Dublin have edged out Mayo in terms of PWC All-star nominations with 13 players making the cut, one more than their All-ireland opponents.
The only Dublin players that started last Sunday’s final to CIARAN
KILKENNY has insisted that being sent off late in Dublin’s All-ireland final win over Mayo didn’t tarnish the occasion.
Kilkenny was among a number of Dublin players that put the heat on Mayo’s forwards deep into stoppage time as they attempted a short kick-out.
Goalkeeper David Clarke ended up punting the ball out over the sideline and Dublin cleverly held onto possession until the final whistle.
Kilkenny, who had a thrilling head to head with Lee Keegan (inset), declined to discuss exactly what he did to get sent off but said it didn’t take any gloss off the famous win.
Kilkenny said: “No, no, not at all. It was the 75th minute or miss out are Eoghan O’gara and Paddy Andrews, who were both replaced at half-time.
For Mayo, Donal Vaughan, Seamus O’shea and Paddy Durcan are the starters who aren’t included among their 12 shortlisted players, with Ulster champions Tyrone the next best represented with six. something. David Clarke is incredible on the kick-outs, at getting them off short. So what I did was what I thought was the best decision for the team.”
Dublin were accused of cynical play as they bottled up the Mayo forwards during that passage of play. But Kilkenny was delighted with how his colleagues handled the tense final couple of minutes.
He said: “I was so proud, yeah. It was brilliant. I was looking on and the lads seemed in control.”
Kilkenny added that the players have an incredible belief in each other to finish the job in the crucial closing minutes.
The Castleknock man said: “You just need to trust. We have massive trust in each other, to keep going as hard as you can for as long as you can. If we all
Kerry have earned five, there are two each for Roscommon, Kildare and Down while Monaghan, Donegal and Armagh have one player apiece on the list of 45.
The All-stars and players of the year in both codes will be named at the Convention Centre, Dublin on November 3. commit to that, hopefully we get a collective performance and a win. We believe in that big time.”
The worst act of cynicism on Sunday came from reigning Footballer of the Year Keegan who tossed a GPS device in Dean Rock’s direction moments before kicking the winning free. It remains to be seen if the GAA take any action and Kilkenny declined to comment though spoke favourably about Keegan generally and their duel.
“He’s a great footballer, he’s a very passionate Mayo man. I have a lot of respect for him.”
“I think there was a stat there, that 48 per cent of their scores came from defence. So we knew that was a massive challenge for us as a forward unit. We put a lot of emphasis on that.”