MAYO’S DIARMUID O’CONNOR and Deise star Austin Gleeson were honoured with the prestigious Young Player of the Year awards at tonight’s GAA/GPA Opel Allstar bash at the Convention Centre in the capital.
21-year-old O’Connor picked up his second straight Young Footballer of the Year and now stands level with big brother Cillian as two-time winners of the award.
The year ultimately ended in defeat for O’Connor and Mayo after their narrow All-Ireland final replay loss to Dublin in October. However, O’Connor did lead the Mayo U21s to All-Ireland glory back in April.
He enjoyed another fine year in the green and red of Mayo, scoring a wonderful goal against Kildare in the qualifiers.
Gleeson, meanwhile, enjoyed another outstanding season with Waterford. The Mount Sion youngster confirmed his status as one of the elite hurlers on the country and he also led his county to All-Ireland U21 honours.
Gleeson, also 21, played a starring role as Derek McGrath’s Waterford ran Kilkenny to an All-Ireland semi-final replay, where they fell short by a single point.
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