Mayo goalkeeper earns a place on Yoplait Ladies HEC All Star team

The Yoplait HEC All Stars and Rising Stars have been announced following the conclusion of the 2022 Yoplait HEC Championships.

Mayo is represented on the HEC All Star team by goalkeeper Laura Brennan thanks to her exploits with Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, who won the Yoplait Giles Cup this year.

Her team-mate, full-back Megan Ryan, is also included on the team, which is dominated by Yoplait O’Connor Cup winners University of Limerick, who have six representatives.

They include captain Fiadhna Tangney from Kerry and 2021 TG4 All Star Erika O’Shea (Cork).

O’Shea is named alongside UL team-mates Aoife Molloy and Roisin Ambrose in defence, with Aisling Reidy listed at midfield. Tangney is joined in the attack by Ailish Morrissey, a 2021 currentaccount.ie All-Ireland club winner with Galway’s Kilkerrin-Clonberne.

Yoplait O’Connor Cup runners-up University College Cork have five players on the team: Sarah Leahy, Isobel Sheehan, Ciara McCarthy, Sadhbh O’Leary and Katie Quirke, who was player of the match from the final despite UCC’s loss.

Westmeath’s Sarah Dillon, the 2021 TG4 Intermediate Players’ Player of the Year, has been recognised for her exploits with Yoplait Lynch Cup winners TUS Midlands, including a player of the match display in the final, while there’s also a spot on the team for Dublin’s Caoimhe O’Connor from Yoplait Giles Cup runners-up TU Dublin.

The Yoplait Rising Stars recognise the efforts of players in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh tier competitions, with Yoplait HEC Cup final player of the match Bronagh Quinn from GMIT Mayo earning a slot on the selection.

Yoplait Moynihan Cup winners MTU Cork lead the way with five representatives on the team, including final player of the match Abbie O’Mahony from Cork.

Yoplait Moynihan Cup runners-up Letterkenny IT have been rewarded with three players on the Yoplait Rising Stars team, with two players from Yoplait Donaghy Cup winners DCU Dóchas Éireann acknowledged, final player of the match Sarah Clarke being one of those.

There are also two players from Yoplait Lagan Cup winners TUS Midwest on the team, namely captain Gráinne McKenna and final player of the match Iris Kennelly, while players from Ulster University ad TU Dublin also make the team.

All seven competitions came to a conclusion over the course of three days at Dublin City University. The Yoplait HEC, Lagan and Donaghy Cup finals were played on Tuesday, March 8, to mark International Women’s Day, followed by the Yoplait Moynihan Cup final on Friday March 11, and the Yoplait Lynch, Giles and O’Connor Cup finals on Saturday, March 12.

The Yoplait HEC All Star team in full is: Laura Brennan (Mary Immaculate College); Aoife Molloy (University of Limerick), Megan Ryan (Mary Immaculate College), Sarah Leahy (University College Cork); Isobel Sheehan (University College Cork), Roisin Ambrose (University of Limerick), Erika O’Shea (University of Limerick); Ciara McCarthy (University College Cork), Aisling Reidy (University of Limerick); Fiadhna Tangney (University of Limerick), Caoimhe O’Connor (TU Dublin), Sadhbh O’Leary (University College Cork); Ailish Morrissey (University of Limerick), Katie Quirke (University College Cork), Sarah Dillon (TUS Midlands).

The Yoplait Rising Stars team is as follows: Margaret Murphy (MTU Cork); Danielle McGinley (Letterkenny IT), Maria McKenna (Ulster University), Laura Doherty (DCU Dóchas Éireann); Roisin Dunphy (MTU Cork), Grainne McKenna (TUS Midwest), Julie Trearty (Letterkenny IT); Abbie O’Mahony (MTU Cork), Bronagh Quinn (GMIT Mayo); Iris Kennelly (TUS Midwest), Ava Looney (MTU Cork), Sarah Clarke (DCU Dóchas Éireann); Kacey Geoghegan (TU Dublin), Maeve Daly (MTU Cork), Katie Long (Letterkenny IT).