The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Excitement rises as All Star shortlist is announced
IT’S that time of year again when the good and the great of the East Kerry GAA fraternity will gather in Killarney for the annual East Kerry GAA All Star gala night. Now in its third year, and ran in conjuntion with
The Kerryman newspaper and The Aquila Club in the Gleneagle Hotel, the East Kerry GAA All Stars has already established itself as one of the premier awards events in the county, when the best players from the East Kerry senior football championship are rewarded for their outstanding performances in the O’Donoghue Cup.
The awards are already a coveted item for the District Board’s footballers and they are due recognition of playing achievement in one of the county’s most competitive, professionally organised and widely regarded district championships.
The All Star awards, along with the Senior Footballer and Young Footballer of the Championship awards, are based solely on performances in the O’Donoghue Cup. A panel of observers have been to every O’Donoghue Cup game of the last campaign and long and late nights of discussion and debate have distilled a couple of hundred players down to the fifteen best of the championship. Inter-county reputations and medals and performances in other competitions count for nothing here as players have been judged solely on how they have pe r - formed in their O’Donoghue Cup matches in 2012.
The O’Donoghue Cup can be a great leveller, and while Dr Crokes have created a little history by winning their seventh championship in a row, there is still plenty of room for players from the other clubs to shine. And shine they did.
Our expert panel has looked long and hard - and with some dispute - at all the performances and have drawn up a long list of 45 players who deserve special mention for their outstanding displays and heroics. Not all were winners but in their own way they all stood out and stood up to the task at hand.
The 45 nominations are broken down into three goalkeepers, 18 defenders and 18 forwards, and six midfielders.
In a fornight we will cut that list down to 24 (two goalkeepers, nine defenders and nine forwards, and four midfielders) and those 24 will be the guests of honour at the All Star gala banquet in the Gleneagle Hotel on Saturday, January 19. There the 15 players for the 2012 East Kerry GAA All Star team will be announced.
The guest of honour and keynote speaker will be AllIreland winning captain from 1984, Ambrose O’Donovan. Tickets are available through officers of the East Kerry Board and club officers. GOALKEEPERS Colin Myers (Fossa), Shane Murphy (Kilcummin), Patrick O’Riordan (Gneeveguilla) DEFENDERS Dan O’Sullivan (Currow), Eoin Brosnan (Dr Crokes), Luke Quinn (Dr Crokes), Shane Myers (Dr Crokes), Mike Moloney (Dr Crokes), John Payne (Dr Crokes), Fionn Fitzgerald (Dr Crokes), John O’Mahony (Firies), Jack Sherwood (Firies), Danny O’Connor (Gneeveguilla), Timmy O’Leary (Gneeveguilla), Conor O’Sullivan (Rathmore), Paul Murphy (Rathmore), Aidan O’Mahony (Rathmore), Brian O’Leary (Rathmore), Alfie Giles (Spa), Damien O’Sullivan (Spa), Shane Lynch (Spa) MIDFIELDERS Johnny Buckley (Dr Crokes), Daithi Casey (Dr Crokes), Mike Cronin (Fossa), Billy Maguire (Legion), John Buckley (Rathmore), Daniel Murphy (Scartaglin) FORWARDS Pa McCarthy (Currow), Brian Looney (Dr Crokes), Colm Cooper (Dr Crokes), Jamie Doolan (Dr Crokes), Kieran O’Leary (Dr Crokes), Chris Brady (Dr Crokes), Padraig Doyle (Gneeveguilla), Donal Murphy (Gneeveguilla), Michael Murphy (Gneeveguilla), Liam Murphy (Gneeveguilla), Thomas Moriarty (Legion), David O’Sullivan (Legion), Gary O’Sullivan (Listry), Gary O’Leary (Kilcummin), Michael O’Riordan (Rathmore), George O’Keeffe (Rathmore), Michael O’Donoghue (Spa), Cormac Cronin (Spa)