11 counties represented in nominees for U21 Hurling Team of the Year

Fri, 23 Sep, 2016 - 21:06

Eleven counties are represented on the 45-man shortlist for the Bord Gáis Energy U21 Hurling Championship Team of the Year, writes Stephen Barry.

Waterford, who scored 15-82 in four games on their way to the All-Ireland title, lead the list of nominations with 12 players selected.

Senior stars including Austin Gleeson, Patrick Curran and Stephen Bennett are selected, with one of that trio set to pick up the Player of the Year award.

Leinster champions Dublin have nine nominees, and there are five apiece for All-Ireland runners-up Galway and Munster finalists Tipperary, including All-Ireland Senior winner Ronan Maher.

Westmeath are rewarded for their shock defeat of Kilkenny with three players shortlisted; the same number as Limerick and Offaly.

Clare have two nominees and there are one each for Antrim, Cork and Wexford.

The winners will be presented with their awards at a special ceremony in the Mansion House on Saturday, October 8.

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Jordan Henley (Waterford), Brian Hogan (Tipperary), Jonathan Treacy (Dublin)

Right corner back: James Madden (Dublin), William Hahassy (Waterford), Simon Donoghue (Wexford)

Full back: Richie English (Limerick), Conor Gleeson (Waterford), Eoghan O’Donnell (Dublin)

Left corner back: Tom Fox (Tipperary), Paddy Delaney (Offaly), Darragh Lyons (Waterford)

Right half back: Cian MacGabhann (Dublin), Michael Harney (Waterford), Ben Connelly (Offaly)

Centre back: Austin Gleeson (Waterford), Ronan Maher (Tipperary), Liam Varley (Westmeath)

Left half back: Shane Barrett (Dublin), Ben O’Gorman (Clare), Seán Loftus (Galway)

Midfield: Jake Malone (Dublin), Shane Bennett (Waterford), Darragh O’Donovan (Limerick), Ronan Lynch (Limerick), Dan Nevin (Galway), Colm Roche (Waterford)

Right half forward: Seán Treacy (Dublin), Michael Kearney (Waterford), Pa O’Callaghan (Cork)

Centre forward: Brian Molloy (Galway), Andrew Coffey (Tipperary), Tom Devine (Waterford)

Left half forward: Niall Mitchell (Westmeath), Shane Gleeson (Clare), Seán Linnane (Galway)

Right corner forward: Patrick Curran (Waterford), AJ Murphy (Dublin), Eanna Burke (Galway)

Full forward: Stephen Bennett (Waterford), Stephen Quirke (Tipperary), Ciaran Doyle (Westmeath)

Left corner forward: Chris Bennett (Dublin), Emmet Nolan (Offaly), Saul McCaughan (Antrim)