One TG4 All-Star for Mayo but Meath lead the way

Rachel Kearns was the sole Mayo recipient of a TG4 All-Star following the final 15 reveal at the awards banquet, in association with Lidl, at Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel yesterday evening.

Six Mayo players had been nominated for All-Stars this year – Saoirse Lally, Tamara O'Connor, Sinéad Cafferky, Rachel Kearns, Sarah Rowe and Shauna Howley – but Kearns was the only one to pick up an award.

It's a second All-Star in the space of three years for the Crossmolina native following recognition for her exploits in 2019 also.

All-Ireland senior champions Meath led the way with eight representatives on the 2021 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star team, with beaten finalists Dublin supplying three, Cork two, and Donegal and Mayo one each.

For the Meath players, seven of the eight honoured are first-time winners on the back of a historic season which saw the Royal County win a maiden TG4 All-Ireland senior title.

Meath lifted the Brendan Martin Cup on September 5, less than nine months after winning the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate title, while 2021 also saw Eamonn Murray’s team claim the Lidl National League Division 2 crown and secure promotion to the top flight for the 2022 season.

In total, there are 12 first-time winners on the 2021 TG4 All Star team, with Meath 'keeper Monica McGuirk and Mayo's Rachel Kearns the only survivors from the 2019 selection. Dublin's Leah Caffrey picked up her third award, meanwhile.

The 2021 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star team in full is: Monica McGuirk (Meath); Emma Troy (Meath), Mary Kate Lynch (Meath), Leah Caffrey (Dublin); Erika O’Shea (Cork), Aoibhín Cleary (Meath), Orlagh Nolan (Dublin); Hannah Looney (Cork), Máire O’Shaughnessy (Meath); Hannah Tyrrell (Dublin), Rachel Kearns (Mayo), Niamh O’Sullivan (Meath); Vikki Wall (Meath), Emma Duggan (Meath), Geraldine McLaughlin (Donegal).