Football

Donegal well represented in Ladies Football Allstar nominations

2018 Ladies All Stars Awards

ULSTER’S All Stars hopes are pinned on 11 inter-county players who are among 45 nominees to learn their fate at this evening’s gala 2018 TG4 All Star Awards in Dublin’s Citywest Hotel.

Provincial champions Donegal, who reached the All-Ireland semi-final losing out to Cork, have eight players among the gong hopefuls while Armagh, Cavan and All-Ireland intermediate champions Tyrone all have one each.

Donegal are well represented by Ciara Hegarty, who won her first All Star last year, in the half back line, Treasa Doherty and Nicole McLaughlin in the full back line and Deirdre Foley in the half back line. Katy Herron has been nominated at midfield, captain Karen Guthrie in the half-forward line, and 2018 senior championship top scorer Geraldine McLaughlin and AFLW rookie Yvonne Bonner, who is currently embarking on her first season with Sydney-based GWS Giants, are among the full-forward line nominees.

Armagh’s Caroline O’Hanlon – an All Star winner in 2006, 2012 and 2014 and a former senior and intermediate players’ player of the year winner – is nominated in the midfield position while Cavan’s Aisling Maguire is nominated in the half-forward line.

Tyrone’s All-Ireland winning captain Neamh Woods could be celebrating twice – as well as being nominated for the midfield position, the Drumragh Sarsfields players is up for the Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year award along with county team-mate Gemma Begley. Woods previously won an All Star in 2008 and would equal Begley and Eilish Gormley’s record of two should she walk away with her second award tonight.

Seven players from the 2017 All Star team are nominated for awards once again. All-Ireland champions Dublin, who completed the league and championship double in 2018 under Mick Bohan, lead the way with 14 nominations, while runners-up Cork are honoured with 12 players on the list. Eleven counties in total are represented – Galway (3), Kerry (2) and Mayo, Sligo and Tipperary (1) making up the rest.

The Senior Players’ Player of the Year and Junior Players’ Player of the Year awards are also revealed tonight.

Two Dublin players are in the running for the senior award - All-Ireland winning captain Sinéad Aherne and Lyndsey Davey and Cork captain Ciara O’Sullivan.

Woods and Begley are up for the intermediate award with Meath captain Niamh O’Sullivan while two Limerick players - All-Ireland winning captain Cathy Mee and Final Player of the Match Rebecca Delee and former Junior Players’ Player of the Year winner, Louth’s Kate Flood are in the running for the junior award. The nominees in all three categories were selected by their fellow players, who could not vote for their own team-mates.

The action does not stop there – the Provincial Young Players of the Year, which includes Donegal’s Megan Ryan the Ulster winner and the 2018 inductee into the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) Hall of Fame will also be presented.

The event begins with another Facebook special ‘Live from the Red Carpet’ hosted by Grainne McElwain where viewers can once again tune in for a series of exclusive interviews with the game’s top stars ahead of the 2018 TG4 All Star banquet.

The event will be streamed live and simultaneously on both the Ladies Gaelic Football and Spórt TG4 Facebook pages from 6.30pm.

2018 All Star nominees:

Goalkeepers: Ciara Trant (Dublin), Martina O’Brien (Cork), Noelle Gormley (Sligo)

Right Corner Back: Treasa Doherty (Donegal), Martha Byrne (Dublin), Eimear Meaney (Cork)

Full Back: Róisín Phelan (Cork), Nicole McLaughlin (Donegal), Aislinn Desmond (Kerry)

Left Corner Back: Sinéad Burke (Galway), Leah Caffrey (Dublin), Melissa Duggan (Cork)

Right Half Back: Sinéad Goldrick (Dublin), Máire O’Callaghan (Cork), Rachel Kearns (Mayo)

Centre Half Back: Ciara Hegarty (Donegal), Nicola Ward (Galway), Siobhán McGrath (Dublin)

Left Half Back: Niamh Collins (Dublin), Emma Spillane (Cork), Deirdre Foley (Donegal)

Midfield: Lauren Magee (Dublin), Neamh Woods (Tyrone), Ashling Hutchings (Cork)

Olwen Carey (Dublin), Caroline O’Hanlon (Armagh), Katy Herron (Donegal)

Right Half Forward: Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork), Karen Guthrie (Donegal), Carla Rowe (Dublin)

Centre Half Forward: Tracey Leonard (Galway), Noelle Healy (Dublin), Aisling Maguire (Cavan)

Left Half Forward: Lyndsey Davey (Dublin), Eimear Scally (Cork), Aishling Moloney (Tipperary)

Right Corner Forward: Geraldine McLaughlin (Donegal), Sinéad Aherne (Dublin), Áine O’Sullivan (Cork)

Full Forward: Doireann O’Sullivan (Cork), Yvonne Bonner (Donegal), Niamh McEvoy (Dublin)

Left Corner Forward: Orla Finn (Cork), Nicole Owens (Dublin), Sarah Houlihan (Kerry)

TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year Award Nominees: Sinéad Aherne (Dublin), Lyndsey Davey (Dublin), Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork)

TG4 Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year Award Nominees: Gemma Begley (Tyrone), Neamh Woods (Tyrone), Niamh O’Sullivan (Meath)

TG4 Junior Players’ Player of the Year Award Nominees: Rebecca Delee (Limerick), Cathy Mee (Limerick), Kate Flood (Louth)