THE Antrim club championships are now upon us with teams battling it out for silverware across the grades in both codes.
Whilst the winners will be crowned by Halloween and attention turns to the Ulster Championships, there will still be some domestic business to take care of as the third annual Devenish Antrim GAA Club Allstar Awards return.
Once again, the Finaghy venue will play host to the awards night which will take place on Friday, November 23 where the hurling and football teams will be announced, plus the Players of the Year and Young Players of the Year are revealed.
Conal Cunning swept the boards last year, collecting a total of four awards. The Dunloy Cuchullains dual star was not only selected on the hurling and football teams, but also picked up the top scorer award in football and also the Hurler of the Year award.
Glenarm’s Niall McGarel collected two awards when he was named on the hurling team and named Young Player of the Year, while Clooney Gaels' sharpshooter James O’Connell also got two hurling gongs: Top-scorer as-well-as being named at corner forward on hurling team.
Cargin’s Sean O’Neill was also a two-time winner, picking up Young Footballer of the Year as well as the right-half forward position on the football team, while his Erins Own teammate John McNabb was in goals in the football team as well as winning the Footballer of the Year award.
The shortlist judging panel will comprise of John 'Curly' McIlwaine and Brendan McTaggart (Saffron Gael), David Mohan (Belfast Media Group), Brendan Crossan (The Irish News) and Paddy Tierney (Belfast Live).
Fra McGuinness, General Manager of the Devenish Complex said: "The Devenish, alongside the Antrim County Board, The Saffron Gael and O'Neill's, are delighted to be part of this terrific Club Allstars scheme for a third year running.
"We appreciate the amount of effort that goes into running the games themselves and it's a great way to acknowledge and celebrate some of our local heroes in an event that is growing from strength to strength with each passing year."
