Carbery's stars will shine bright at division's annual GAA awards night

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

CARBERY’S top footballers and hurlers will be honoured at the division’s annual GAA awards this Saturday night.

The Carbery Junior Hurling All-Stars team has already been named and on the night the All-Star football team will be revealed, while the Carbery Junior Hurler and Footballer of the Year will also be honoured. 

This is the second year of the Westlodge Hotel Carbery GAA Junior All-Stars, with the gala banquet awards night certain to attract a large crowd to the Westlodge Hotel in Bantry.

These awards are the brainchild of former Carbery chairman, the late John Corcoran, so it’s very fitting that former Cork football manager Billy Morgan, who had Corcoran as a selector both with Cork and UCC, is the guest speaker on the night.

Morgan was captain of the Cork football team that won the Sam Maguire in 1973 and was manager of the Cork senior football team that won two All-Ireland titles and four Munster titles between 1987 and 1990.

Rebel Óg West Chairman Aidan O’Rourke is the MC the event.

Forty-five of Carbery’s best junior footballers from the past season in the division’s junior A, B, C and D championships, are in the running for one of the 15 places on the All-Star team.

Not surprisingly, Carbery JAFC champions Gabriel Rangers lead the way with 12 nominations while losing finalists St Colum’s have ten players in the running. 

Beaten semi-finalists, Tadhg MacCarthaigh (four) and Kilmacabea (seven), South West junior B champions Kilbrittain (three), county C champions Goleen (one), and Barryroe, Ballinascarthy, St James and St Oliver Plunkett’s all have players nominated. 

The Westlodge Carbery junior football All-Star nominees are as follows:

Goalkeepers: Mícheál Cronin (St Colum’s), Darren O’Mahony (Gabriel Rangers) and Conor Madden (Barryroe).

Defenders: Cathal Newman, Richie Moynihan, Pat Nolan and Liam Hegarty (Gabriel Rangers), Sean Harrington, Eddie O’Sullivan, David O’Mahony, Shane McSweeney, Ben Murphy and Michael Casey (St Colum’s), Mark Jennings, Niall Hayes, Clive Sweetnam and Sam Kingston (Kilmacabea), Colm O’Driscoll and Shane O’Driscoll (Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh), Daniel Nyhan (Ballinascarthy), Mark Evans (St James).

Midfield: Stephen O’Mahony and Donal O’Sullivan (Gabriel Rangers), Alan O’Connor (St Colum’s), Tom Sheehan (Kilmacabea), Sean Ryan (Ballinascarthy) and Ross Cashman (Kilbrittain).

Forwards: Sean Kelleher, Ger O’Callaghan, Chris Moynihan, Mark Cronin and Eddie Goggin (Gabriel Rangers), Denis McSweeney and Eoin O’Sullivan (St Colum’s), Karl McCarthy, Richie O’Sullivan and Ger O’Donovan (Kilmacabea), Brian O’Driscoll and Mark O’Driscoll (Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh), Pat O’Mahony and Noel Griffin (Kilbrittain), John Cullinane (Goleen), Cillian Cullinane (Ballinascarthy), Mark Crowley (Barryroe) and Conor O’Driscoll (St Oliver Plunkett’s).

The three players in the reckoning for the 2016 Carbery Junior Footballer of the Year award are Gabriel Rangers’ forward Eddie Goggin, St Colum’s midfielder Alan O’Connor and Tadhg MacCarthaigh’s Brian O’Driscoll.

While the 2016 Westlodge Hotel Carbery GAA Junior Hurling All-Star team was recently unveiled, the Hurler of the Year award is still up for grabs and will be announced this Saturday night.

Competing for the top award are Kilbree captain Darragh Coakley who led his club to their first South West JAHC title, Kevin Coffey of St Oliver Plunkett’s and Ricky O’Flynn of Ballinascarthy who helped his side win the league title.

The hurlers selected on the All-Star team that was recently named will all receive their awards this Saturday night, with champions Kilbree leading the way with five All-Stars and runners-up St Colum’s having three representatives on the team.

The 2016 Westlodge Hotel Carbery GAA Junior Hurling All-Star team is as follows: Vincent Healy (Dohenys); Davy O’Donovan (Kilbree), Shane McSweeney (St Colum’s), Danny Kelly (Kilbree); David O’Mahony (St Colum’s), Conor O’Driscoll (St Oliver Plunkett’s), Jerry McCarthy (Dohenys); Darragh Coakley (Kilbree), Ricky O’Flynn (Ballinascarthy); Dylan Coffey (Kilbree), Kevin Coffey (St Oliver Plunkett’s), MP Keohane (St Oliver Plunkett’s); Sean O’Shea (St Colum’s), Damien O’Gorman (Kilbree) and Darragh Hennessy (Ballinascarthy).

• Don’t miss next week’s Southern Star for a comprehensive report from the 2016 Westlodge Hotel Carbery GAA All-Stars.