After a successful year to date representing Limerick at u-21 level, Eoghan McNamara has been nominated for the All-Ireland under-21 team of the year.
McNamara joined 44 other nominees who were named on the shortlist for the 2017 Bord Gáis Energy Under-21 Team of the Year. McNamara, who guarded the Limerick posts all season, is one of three nominees for the goalkeeping position, alongside Kilkenny’s Darren Brennan and Westmeath’s Sean Maher.
Limerick lead the way with the nominations this year, with a record 13 nominations for the team. Only Captain Tom Morrissey and forward Barry Murphy failed to make the list. Limerick’s dominance in the final against Kilkenny showed the strength of the Treaty County in several positions, which might explain the sheer number of nominations.
Seven Kilkenny players received nominations, as did Galway, with many other counties competing in this year’s championship receiving at least one nominee. Waterford received six nominations, in comparison to Cork, who, while competing in the Munster final, only see four of their players on the short list.
Speaking to The University Times by email, McNamara expressed his delight at receiving the nomination and credited his teammates with his success. “It’s brilliant to be nominated but I’ll also take it with a grain of salt. I had six unbelievable defenders in front of me who made my life easy and ensured that I had as little to do as possible during the games, so while it’s a tremendous honour, it’s more of a recognition of their efficiency and quality throughout the year I feel”, he said.
This year’s judging panel included Ger Cunningham, Joe Canning, Ken McGrath and TG4’s Míchéal Ó Domhnaill. The successful nominees are due to be announced on October 2nd.
