Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAGNIFICENT 7 FOR SAFFRONS
Gosling: Sarr the key to Hornets’ promotion bid
ANTRIM have earned seven spots on the 2020 Joe Mcdonagh Cup Team of the Year.
The Saffrons won the title in December to earn promotion back to the top flight and Kerry, who they beat in the final, have five representatives with the team completed by two Carlow players and one from Westmeath.
Antrim talisman and captain Conor Mccann has been selected as the Player of the Year for the competition having scored 4-20 from play.
Also announced was the Champion 15, which is drawn from the Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup competitions.
The Player of the Year winners from the three competitions are Kildare’s Paul Divilly (Christy Ring Cup), Donegal hurler Danny Cullen (Nickey Rackard Cup) and Andrew Mackin of Louth (Lory Meagher Cup).
A programme to honour the Joe Mcdonagh Cup and Champion 15 selections will be aired on RTE 2fm’s Game On show on Wednesday.
JOE MCDONAGH CUP TEAM OF THE YEAR: Brian Tracey (Carlow); Tomás O’connor (Kerry), Matthew Donnelly (Antrim), Stephen Rooney (Antrim); Jason Diggins (Kerry), Aonghus Clarke (Westmeath), Ger Walsh (Antrim); Shane Nolan (Kerry), Keelan Molloy (Antrim); Niall Mckenna (Antrim), Shane Conway (Kerry), Daniel Collins (Kerry); Chris Nolan (Carlow), Conor Mccann (Antrim), Ciaran Clarke (Antrim).
CHAMPION 15: Stephen Keith (Down); Sean Mcveigh (Donegal), Caolan Taggart (Down), Cathal Freeman (Mayo); Conor Mcshea (Fermanagh), Rian Boran (Kildare), Danny Cullen (Donegal); Eoghan Cahill (Offaly), Paul Divilly (Kildare); Damian Casey (Tyrone), James Burke (Kildare), Shane Boland (Mayo); Jack Sheridan (Kildare), Andrew Mackin (Louth), Christy Moorehouse (Wicklow).
JOE MCDONAGH CUP PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Conor Mccann (Antrim).
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ISMAILA SARR leads Watford’s six-shooters into another acid test – with new signing Dan Gosling admitting he will be the key factor in their promotion bid.
The Jekyll and Hyde Hornets have the best home record in the Championship but have scored only seven goals in 14 away games, including five dreary 0-0 draws.
Now boss Xisco Munoz takes his side to Preston fresh from their 6-0 demolition of Bristol City.
Flying Senegal winger Sarr scored twice and provided three assists against the Robins. And Gosling, a surprise free transfer
Preston Watford
from promotion rivals Bournemouth, believes he will be their trump card.
Gosling (right) said: “Sarr was exceptional and with the attacking threat of him and Ken Sema, it was probably one of the outstanding performances of the season.
“Ismaila is one of the standout performers in the division and the club did really well to keep hold of him in the summer.
“We’ve had a slight change of formation from the previous games and when your attacking players perform like they did on Saturday, it takes some stopping.”
Preston boss Alex Neil has pleaded for patience with the eight players he brought in during the transfer window to replace the same number leaving. A derby win over Blackburn on Friday night shows they are heading in the right direction – but Neil cautioned: “The one thing I will always try to add to that though is a little bit of realism, in that you need to give these boys time.
“Some of these lads have just walked in the building, some have very limited experience and some have never played at this level.
“So to put them all together and expect them to be there all the time I think is unfair on them.”