Four DCU students have been nominated for the 2012 Football All Star Awards. PE and Biology student Michael Murphy is a certainty to take one of the three full forward positions after leading Donegal to their first All-Ireland win in 20 years.
Cork’s Aidan Walsh, who has just begun the same degree as Murphy, is nominated in midfield but faces stiff competition from the four men who played in the All Ireland final.
Perhaps the surprise inclusion in the selection was that of Longford duo Michael Quinn and Paul Barden. DCU student Quinn, who earns his first All Star nomination, has been selected among the half backs.
Dublin star and PE and Biology student Paul Flynn is included among the half forwards after an impressive Championship campaign, which ultimately ended in disappointment for the 2011 winners. Despite that however, Dublin is the best represented county by DCU alumni with three former students earning nominations.
Kevin Nolan, a graduate of the PE and Biology degree, gets the nod in the half back position. This would be Nolan’s second All Star Award after claiming a place in last year’s team in the same position.
2010 footballer of the year Bernard Brogan will be hoping to make it three All-Star Awards in a row. The Oliver Plunkett’s man is a graduate of DCU’s MSc in Business Management and the Professional Diploma in Accounting.
Another Dub, Stephen Cluxton, is nominated for the goalkeeper position. He graduated from the Science Education Programme in 2006. The Parnells clubman has won four All Star Awards previously in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2011.
However, he faces a tough test to hang onto his award with DCU graduate and AllIreland winner Paul Durcan also nominated in the position.
CEO of DCU Sport, Ken Robinson, said the players nominated deserve credit for the hard work they put in while trying to balance football with college work.
“We’re delighted, we have some great people that go through DCU and obviously their first and foremost objective when they go to DCU is to get a quality degree, an honours degree and have a good career ahead of them”, he said.
“We see it, not just the glory in Croke Park, but we see the hard work they put in to get to the level that they’ve got to. They deserve every reward they get.”
The 2012 All Stars will be announced on October 24th, and are once again jointly hosted by the GAA and Gaelic Players Association (GPA). The All Star award ceremony will take place on Friday, October 26th.
Image Credit: Sportsfile
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