Cork top list as old order still dominates

Hurling/All Star nominations: All but two of the Cork players who started their successful All-Ireland final last month have been nominated for positions on the Vodafone All Star hurling team for 2004.

It's one of the most extensive shows from the champions in All Star history, and yet fully deserved by a team whose only blip throughout the summer was their Munster final defeat to Waterford.

As a result though, Waterford are also heavily represented on this year's shortlist, with their eight nominations one more than the beaten All-Ireland finalists Kilkenny.

Only five other counties have managed to get players among the 45 contenders, one of the lowest spreads in recent years and reflecting another season dominated by the hurling elite.

The two Cork finalists to miss out are forwards Timmy McCarthy and Kieran Murphy. McCarthy can feel a little hard done by. The goal he scored against Tipperary when coming on as a substitute during their qualifier in Killarney was the turning point of that game, but the fact he failed to score in the All-Ireland final probably came against him.

Of the 13 Cork players nominated, there aren't many who can forget about making the All Star team when it's announced live at the awards ceremony on the night of November 26th. Defensively Cork are certain to dominate, with Diarmuid O'Sullivan, Ronan Curran and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín assured of further All Star honours. Others like John Gardiner and Wayne Sherlock won't be easily out-voted.

Both midfielders, Tom Kenny and Jerry O'Connor, are also potential winners, as are their four nominated forwards - Ben O'Connor, Niall McCarthy, Brian Corcoran and Joe Deane.

It means the one Cork player most likely to miss out is goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack. Unless the selection committee suffer severe amnesia, that award seems certain to go to Wexford's Damien Fitzhenry. His incredible series of saves against Offaly effectively ensured Wexford their Leinster title in July, and he was equally reliable when they famously beat Kilkenny in the semi-final.

The third goalkeeper in contention is Kilkenny's James McGarry. Although it's his fifth successive nomination he seems poised to miss out yet again.

Assuming Wexford get a foot in through Fitzhenry, and also perhaps through midfielder Adrian Fenlon, it's still possible only four counties will make up the All Star team.

Depending on the share Cork get, Waterford's eight nominations will also be carefully considered. Forwards Dan Shanahan and Paul Flynn appear certainties, with Shanahan's 3-1 against Clare in May one of the highlights of the year. Ken McGrath seems equally certain to get a place in the defence, while John Mullane, although sent off in the Munster final, can't be easily discarded.

Kilkenny's main contenders are Tommy Walsh, JJ Delaney, Derek Lyng and Henry Shefflin - all of whom were part of last year's All Star team. Walsh is nominated among the defenders having been switched there midseason to such good effect, while Shefflin is also likely to be accommodated somewhere in the forward line.

That doesn't leave much room for anyone else. Tipperary's Eoin Kelly was at his majestic best throughout the summer and his inclusion would be no surprise, although it's impossible to see room for any of the Galway, Clare or Limerick players.

To say DJ Carey's inclusion is something of a surprise would normally suggest envy or naivety, and yet the nine-time winner didn't enjoy one of his more memorable seasons.

The fact Kilkenny's captain Martin Comerford wasn't nominated adds weight to that surprise, as he scored 0-2 in the All-Ireland final (Carey failed to score) and was generally one of Kilkenny's more productive scorers from play.

Anyway, it seems highly unlikely Carey will pick up his 10th All Star award, meaning he'll have to hang on a little longer if he wants to break the record awards total of nine, which he currently holds with former Kerry footballer Pat Spillane.

Among the other players who can feel a little upset at not being nominated is Wexford's Michael Jacob, who scored perhaps the goal of the season against Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final.

In total then there are nine of last year's All Star team in the running for another award - Curran, Ó hAilpín and Deane from Cork, Galway's Ollie Canning, Walsh, Delaney, Lyng, and Shefflin from Kilkenny and Waterford's Mullane.