Six of the Mayo Under-21 panel have been selected as recipients of the 'EirGrid 21 U21 Awards', after the team won their first All Ireland title since 2006.
Beaten finalists Cork were also award six honours in the awards. Both teams combine to take up more than half of the awards available.
EirGrid Under-21 Leinster finalists Dublin and Kildare have been awarded three and one awards respectively. Under-21 Munster and Connacht title runners up, Kerry and Roscommon both have one player each rewarded for their impressive performances this year. Finally, the Ulster champions Monaghan, have three players recognised for their outstanding contribution in the 2016 championship.
The awards honour the twenty-one standout players from the 2016 EirGrid GAA Football Under-21 All-Ireland Championship as selected by members of the Gaelic Writers Association and EirGrid Ambassadors Seán Cavanagh and Trevor Giles.
In addition to the 21 U21 awards, EirGrid asked supporters to select their EirGrid GAA Football Under-21 Player of the Year. This year, the three nominees were Cork’s Seán White, Dublin’s Con O’Callaghan and Mayo’s Diarmuid O’Connor. Fans casted their vote by visiting the official GAA Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages between Tuesday 24th May and Thursday 26th May.
Diarmuid O’Connor was announced as the EirGrid Under-21 Football Player of the Year 2016 with a total of 4,000 votes across all social media platforms.
Wing-forward O’Connor was an impressive stand-out on a dominating Mayo team that took to every game with a noted collective approach. His ability to dictate the pace of any game was instrumental as Mayo claimed their first All-Ireland title in 10 years.
GOALKEEPERS
Conor Forde – Monaghan
Anthony Casey – Cork
DEFENDERS
Eoin O'Donoghue – Mayo
Michael Hall – Mayo
Kevin Flahive – Cork
Kieran Histon – Cork
Cillian O'Shea – Dublin
Dessie Ward – Monaghan
Ryan Houlihan – Kildare
MIDFIELDERS
Matthew Ruane – Mayo
Stephen Coen – Mayo
Sean White – Cork
Andy Foley – Dublin
FORWARDS
Diarmuid O'Connor – Mayo
Michael Plunkett - Mayo
Sean O'Donoghue – Cork
Sean Powter – Cork
Barry McGinn – Monaghan
Con O'Callaghan – Dublin
Diarmuid Murtagh – Roscommon
Killian Spillane – Kerry
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