Canning and Moran clean up for Connacht

THE West was awake last night as for the first time ever both the hurling and football Player of the Year awards went to Connacht. Galway’s Joe Canning and Mayo’s Andy Moran were unveiled at last night’s All-Star awards at the Dublin Convention Centre as the top players in their codes by their peers. For the 29-year-old Canning, it was the night the prince became king, given that he earned the successor title at the start of his career in acknowledgment that he would eventually succeed Henry Shefflin as hurling’s next superstar. In a season where he provided leadership, never more so that in hitting the winning point in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Tipperary, he won the votes of his intercounty peers, seeing off the challenges of Waterford pair Jamie Barron and Kevin Moran in a GPA ballot. Meanwhile, Moran, who was 34 this week, capped a remarkable season when he topped a four-man poll, made up of his team-mate David Clarke and Dublin duo James McCarthy and Stephen Cluxton. Moran, whose only previous All-Star came in 2011, has recovered from a broken leg and a cruciate knee injury to be named Footballer of the Year. However, it is a second

year in a row that Dublin, despite being champions, has lost out on the top individual honour in a vote, with Moran succeeding his team-mate Lee Keegan. Compounding a bad night for Dublin captain Cluxton, he also lost out on a goalkeeping All-Star to Clarke, on an evening when Dublin won seven awards, one more than Mayo. Meanwhile, Dublin’s Con O’Callaghan was named as Young Footballer of the Year, with Galway’s Conor Whelan picking up the Young Hurler of the Year award. The PwC Champion 15 selections were also announced for the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup hurling competitions. These awards recognise outstanding performances and contributions in each of the respective hurling championships that took place over the summer. CHRISTY RING CHAMPION 15: Enda Cooney (London), Paul Divilly (Kildare), Ger McManus (Mayo), Padraig Kelly (Roscommon), Eamonn Kearns (Wicklow), Andy O’Brien (Wicklow), Michael Hughes (Down), Eoghan Sands (Down), Chrissy O’Connell (Antrim), John Dillon (Antrim), Paddy Burke (Antrim), Alan Corcoran, John Michael Nolan, James Doyle, Richard Coady (all Carlow). NICKY RACKARD CHAMPION 15: Mike Lyons (Louth), Seamus Hannon (Longford), Davin Flynn (Donegal), Brendan Begley (Tyrone), Stephen Donnelly (Tyrone), Mark Treanor (Monaghan), Donal Megan (Monaghan), Artie McGuinness (Armagh), Nathan Curry (Armagh), John Corvan (Armagh), Brendan Rogers (Derry), Darragh McCloskey (Derry), Paul Cleary (Derry), Sean Cassidy (Derry), Gerald Bradley (Derry). LORY MEAGHER CHAMPION 15: Damien Sheridan (Cavan), Matthew Hynes (Cavan), Sean Corrigan (Fermanagh), Shea Curran (Fermanagh), Kevin Banks (Sligo), Cormac Behan (Sligo), Ronan Crowley (Lancashire), Nathan Unwin (Lancashire), Conor Byrne (Leitrim), Liam Moreton (Leitrim), Clement Cunniffe (Leitrim), John Collins, Dean Bruen, Paul Uniacke, Liam Watson (all Warwickshire).