AN Antrim player will pick up the PwC GPA Junior Player of the Year award at the Camogie Allstars Dinner in Croke Park on November 26.
Yesterday the shortlist of three players nominated for the award was released and all three wore Saffron as Antrim stormed Croke Park to win the Premier Junior title back in August.
Goalie Áine Graham was superb over the course of the 12 games that the Saffrons played in 2022 across league and championship. She kept eight clean sheets and was only beaten twice in the same game, an Ulster semi-final against Cavan that her team actually won.
In Croke Park the Ahoghill girl brought off several outstanding saves and she was a shoo-in for the goalkeeping slot on the Irish News Allstar team announced last month. Her sister Cáitríona was goalie in the Soaring Stars team last year and the younger sibling looks set to follow her.
Midfielder Emma Laverty started in the Antrim team that lost the 2020 All-Ireland Intermediate final against Down, but stepped down from county duty last year after a change in jobs and loss of form. However, this year her experience was key in getting this younger Antrim side back to Croke Park.
She was inspirational all year, but especially during the semi-final win over Clare that went to two sessions of extra-time. She moved from midfield into the forward line during the final and tortured the right wing of the Armagh defence.
The third Player of the Year nominee from Antrim is Dervla Cosgrove who picked up the Player of the Match award on All-Ireland day after scoring a devastating hat-trick of goals inside 84 seconds during the first half. Those goals put Antrim on their way to victory and she sealed that win by scoring a fourth goal to bring her match total to 4-3.
The Ruairí Óg, Cushendall player was consistently good all season, starting the championship with a hat-trick of goals in a group game against Roscommon. She also scored 12 points from frees in another group game against Armagh.
The Players of the Year in the various grades are voted on by the inter-county players and it is not often that all three on any of the short lists come from the same team.
Last year Antrim’s Maeve Kelly was PwC Intermediate player of the year. That award will go to Cork’s Joanne Casey or one of the Galway pair Lisa Casserly and Niamh McPeake.
The three nominees for the senior award features one player who did not feature in Croke Park in the senior final, Lorraine Bray who was prominent as Waterford reached the semi-final stage for the first time since 1945.
Her chances of picking up the award though are slim as Miriam Walsh was outstanding as Kilkenny captured the O’Duffy Cup for the 15th time overall while Katrina Mackey was equally impressive for a much-changed Cork side that came close to another title.
Speaking to mark the announcement of the three shortlists, Camogie Association President Hilda Breslin said: “I wish to congratulate the many deserving nominees of the PwC GPA Camogie Player of the Year Award. The recipients of these awards will be be decided by their fellow players and highlights the respect each recipient is held in by their peers along with their own personal performance and dedication to the sport.”
GPA Chief Executive Officer Tom Parsons added: “Our games are all about the team and team performances but it is great to be able to also recognise individual excellence. The nine players shortlisted made outstanding contributions to their teams in 2022 and are all very worthy of their places in the final shake-up.”
Speaking on behalf of PwC, the sponsors of the PwC Camogie Allstars, Feargal O’Rourke, Managing Partner, said:“To make the shortlist is a huge achievement and a reflection of fantastic individual performances throughout the championship, while working as part of a team.
“To be recognised by your peers in the GPA for your hard work and dedication is a real honour. Developing and celebrating excellence is core to our values at PwC.”
The winners of the PwC GPA Camogie Players of the Year in all three grades will be announced at the PwC Camogie All-Stars on November 26 at Croke Park.
