Kelly, Hayes & Malone nominated for All-Stars

*Rory Hayes clearing his lines. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

Clare has received three nominations for the PwC All Star awards with Aidan McCarthy shortlisted for Young Hurler of the Year.

For the second year in a row, the trio of Rory Hayes, Tony Kelly and Cathal Malone are all included in the list of forty five nominees.

Off the back of a very impressive championship campaign, Wolfe Tones’ Rory Hayes is rewarded with an All-Star nomination once again. While Bruff’s Sean Finn is almost a certainty to take one of the corner-back All-Stars, the Shannon man earned plenty of plaudits this season and this may well be taken into account when the final fifteen is announced.

Tony Kelly is in the reckoning to collect his third All-Star award. The Ballyea man is nominated in midfield and follows another championship in which he was to the fore for Brian Lohan’s side. He was Clare’s top scorer once again, this year finishing with a personal tally of 3-41, scoring a goal in each championship outing except the qualifier win over Wexford.

Another industrious year for Ennistymon’s Cathal Malone sees him ranked among the top hurlers in the country again. Malone’s leadership and work ethic has been appreciated by Banner supporters, particularly in the past two seasons with the Sixmilebridge hurler regularly setting the tempo for his teammates to follow. He is one of six nominees for the two midfield positions.

Although not acknowledged with an All-Star nomination, Aidan McCarthy is shortlisted alongside Kilkenny attacker Eoin Cody and Cork speedster Shane Barrett as Young Hurler of the Year. The Inagh/Kilnamona has nailed down a starting position during Lohan’s tenure and is viewed as one of Clare’s main attacking threats.

Limerick lead the way with a total of fifteen nominations while the trio of Cian Lynch, Sean Finn and Kyle Hayes are in the running for Hurler of the Year. Beaten All-Ireland finalists Cork have nine nominees followed by Waterford (seven), Kilkenny (five), Clare (three), Tipperary (three), Dublin (one), Laois (one) and Wexford (one).

PwC All-Stars Hurling nominations 2021
Goalkeepers
Patrick Collins (Cork)
Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny)
Nickie Quaid (Limerick)

Defenders
Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash, Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Declan Hannon (all Limerick)
Tim O’Mahony, Seán O’Donoghue, Mark Coleman, Robert Downey (all Cork)
Calum Lyons, Kieran Bennett, Conor Prunty (all Waterford)
Huw Lalor, Paddy Deegan (all Kilkenny)
Cathal Barrett, Ronan Maher (all Tipperary)
Rory Hayes (Clare)

Midfielders
Will O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan (all Limerick)
Cathal Malone, Tony Kelly (all Clare)
Jamie Barron (Waterford)
Paddy Purcell (Laois)

Forwards
Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Peter Casey, Seamus Flanagan, Aaron Gillane (all Limerick)
Seamus Harnedy, Patrick Horgan, Shane Kingston, Jack O’Connor (all Cork)
Stephen Bennett, Austin Gleeson, Dessie Hutchinson (all Waterford)
Eoin Cody, TJ Reid (Kilkenny)
Danny Sutcliffe (Dublin)
Jason Forde (Tipperary)
Lee Chin (Wexford)

PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year nominees
Seán Finn, Kyle Hayes, Cian Lynch (all Limerick)

PwC GAA/GPA Young Hurler of the Year nominees
Eoin Cody (Kilkenny), Shane Barrett (Cork), Aidan McCarthy (Clare)