AFTER fantastic displays in the EirGrid GAA Football U20 Championship this year, EirGrid have revealed the winners of the EirGrid GAA U20 Player of the Province Award.

Derry's Callum Brown has been selected for Ulster, Kildare’s Jimmy Hyland has been highlighted as the winner in Leinster, Mayo's Ross Egan for Connacht, and Kerry’s Stefan Okunbor has been chosen for Munster.

Brown landed his award for the role he played in getting Derry to the Ulster final against Armagh and going on to lift the Danny Murphy Cup. Derry exited the All-Ireland Series after losing a thriller against Mayo at the semi-final stage by three points, 2-14 to 2-11. Brown will be best remembered in this year’s championship for his performance against the westerners after hitting the net in dramatic fashion in the first half.

Kildare's Hyland has been crowned as the provincial winner for Leinster. The young Ballyteague man secured this award for his super contribution throughout the Leinster campaign. Hyland put in a man of the match performance in helping Kildare to their first provincial title, scoring eight points.

Kildare then went on to face Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final and defeated them by a point. Jimmy scored 1-8 on this day and claimed the EirGrid U20 Man of the Match award. Kildare then went onto defeat Mayo in a thrilling EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Final. Yet again, Hyland put on a phenomenal display of football and he picked up his third Man of the match award of the championship. 

Connacht’s provincial player of the province is Mayo’s Ross Egan. Ross played an integral role in helping Mayo book their place in the Connacht final by scoring 12 points, six from frees. Egan then went onto display great leadership and scoring abilities in the Connacht fina, getting six points. 

Kerry’s Stefan Okunbor has been selected as the winner in Munster. Hailing from Na Gaeil club, Okunbor has been selected for helping secure Kerry’s second Munster title. In the Munster semi-final, Kerry had a comprehensive win defeating Limerick 1-30 to 0-5. Okunbor then delivered a man of the match display from the back line in the Munster final against Cork, defeating them 3-11 to 0-14.

This is the second year of the EirGrid GAA U20 Player of the Province initiative.  This award was put in place to recognise and reward outstanding performances throughout each of the four provinces at U20 level. Each recipient has been carefully selected by the Gaelic Writers' Association.