*Fidelma Marrinan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
QUERRIN’S FIDELMA MARRINAN has been nominated for a TG4 Ladies Football All Star award.
Marrinan and Kildare’s Roisin Byrne are the only players from the intermediate grade to be acknowledged with a nomination and are included among the forty five person shortlist.
Fidelma claimed the ZuCar Golden Boot award as leading scorer in the 2023 TG4 All-Ireland Championships, while Byrne was Player of the Match for champions Kildare in the Final victory over Clare at Croke Park.
As Clare progressed through the group phase, the West Clare Gaels clubwoman notched 0-7 in the opening round win against Offaly, 2-9 in victory over Wicklow, and 0-3 as the Wayne Freeman’s side drew with Tyrone.
Clare moved safely into the knockout phase and Marrinan was superb in victory against Westmeath in the quarter-finals, hitting a total of 2-9.
For the semi-finals, she kicked 0-5 as Clare recorded a 2-14 1-13 win over Antrim while in the decider against Kildare in Croke Park she finished as Clare’s top scorer hitting 1-5 in an agonising one point defeat to the Lilywhites.
Despite losing out in the showpiece decider to the Sky Blues at Croke Park on August 13, Kerry lead the way with 13 nominations, with Dublin receiving 12, while the long list of 45 nominees includes nine players from the 2022 TG4 All Star team.
Dublin and Kerry claim 25 nominations between them, while Mayo, who lost out to Kerry at the semi-final stage, have five players nominated.
There are three nominations each for Armagh, Cork, Donegal and Meath, the 2021 and 2022 TG4 All-Ireland Senior champions, while Clare, Galway and Kildare have one each.
One goalkeeper will be chosen from the shortlist of three, with three players selected from each of the full-back, half-back, half-forward and full-forward lines for inclusion in the TG4 All Star team, along with two midfielders from the six nominated. The 2023 TG4 All Star team will be announced at a gala banquet at The Bonnington Dublin Hotel on Saturday, November 18.
The 2023 TG4 Junior, Intermediate and Senior Players’ Player of the Year award winners will also be revealed on the night, while the 2023 inductee into the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) Hall of Fame will be acknowledged.
