Inter-county hurling stars Tommy Walsh, Jackie Tyrrell, and Richie Power were recognised for their stellar championship seasons at this year’s Irish Daily Star/Galway Crystal GAA Awards.
Despite the disappointment of falling to Tipperary at the final hurdle in their historic chase for the five-in-a-row, the Kilkenny trio stood out as the Cats won the Leinster Championships and negotiated a tricky semi-final against old foes Cork.
The Irish Daily Star awards, which took place in Croke Park, Dublin, on Saturday night, honour the outstanding performers for the various counties, based on a ‘man of the match’ award for each game in both the hurling and football championships.
Tullaroan man Tommy Walsh was honoured for his outstanding performance as Kilkenny saw off Dublin 4-19 to 0-12 in the Leinster semi-final in June.
James Stephens’ club man Jackie Tyrrell was named as the outstanding player from Kilkenny’s Leinster final battle against Galway in July, which saw them pull away in the second half to win 1-19 to 1-12 and lift their 12th provincial title in 13 years.
Richie Power was named as The Star man of the match for the Cats’ impressive All-Ireland semi-final victory over Cork, the Carrickshock player scoring an impressive 1-08 as Kilkenny eased to a 3-22 to 0-19 victory.
All three hurlers have been nominated for a coveted All-Star award, with Walsh searching for his eighth successive award, Tyrrell his fourth successive All-Star, while Power is looking for his first.
At last weekend’s Star Awards Tipperary hat-trick hero Lar Corbett was crowned hurler of the year after his All-Ireland final heroics, while Dublin’s Bernard Brogan was named as footballer of the year.
