Derry duo nominated for Camogie Player of the Year award

Aine McAllister is nominated for the Intermediate Player of the Year alongside joint Derry captain Aoife Ni Chaiside

placeholder image — Aine McAllister is nominated for the Intermediate Player of the Year alongside joint Derry captain Aoife Ni Chaiside

Derry joint captains Áine McAllister and Aoife Ní Chaiside have been short listed for Intermediate Player of the Year.

The nominations for the PwC GPA Camogie Players of the Year were released on Monday.

Both players have been around the inter-county scene for more than a decade and have collected four Ulster senior championship medals each with Derry.

Ní Chaiside of course won h second Al-Ireland Intermediate medal in Clones last month and, while she has picked up a number of individual awards as her club Slaughtneil swept to provincial and national titles over the past six years, she has not been afforded the same recognition at inter-county level.

McAllister also received her first nomination for a national award although she was included last year in the Irish News camogie Team of the Year.

By co-incidence the pair are likely to be in direct opposition this Sunday in the Elk Derry senior semi-final at Owenbeg. McAllister usually lines out in the half forward line for Ballinascreen and will probably be marked by Ní Chaiside who has held the centre half back jersey for Slaughtneil for many years.

There is one other nomination for the Intermediate Player of the Year; Meath midfielder and dual player Aoife Minogue who presented Derry with a number of problems in the All-Ireland final and replay.

The nominations for the 2023 PwC Soaring Stars and Manager of the Year will be announced on Monday, 25th September with a number of Derry Players, including McAllister and Ní Chaiside, in line for recognition along with manager PJ O’Mullan who led them to the All-Ireland title in his first year in charge.

All the awards, including the camogei All-stars, will be presented at a Gala Dinner on Saturday 4th November.

PwC GPA Camogie Player of the Year nominations

Senior Player of the Year: Amy O'Connor (Cork), Beth Carton (Waterford), Saoirse McCarthy (Cork)

Intermediate Player of the Year : Áine McAllister and Aoife Ni Chaiside (Derry), Aoife Minogue (Meath)

Premier Junior Player of the Year: Ellen Casey and Caoimhe Cahill (Clare), Jean Kelly (Tipperary)