Tyrone’s Damian Casey named Rackard Hurler of the Year

The late Damian Casey has been named the Rackard Hurler of the Year. The Tyrone and Dungannon forward, who died in Spain last June, broke the 400-point career mark for championship scores, having scored 2-64 in their six matches and 0-14 in the final against Roscommon.

Members of his family, including parents Seán and Susan, were present for the announcement of the Player of the Year awards for all of the GAA’s tiered championships, made on Friday night.

Westmeath footballer Ronan O’Toole won the Tailteann Footballer of the Year after a terrific campaign that culminated in his being named man of the match in the final win over Cavan, in which he scored 0-5.

Antrim’s Conal Cunning is the Joe McDonagh Hurler of the Year after a great campaign which saw the county bounce back into next year’s Liam MacCarthy. He scored 5-22 in five matches, including 1-9 in the final against Kerry.

The Christy Ring Cup hurler of the year is Kildare’s James Burke. Selected at corner forward, the Naas man scored 1-44 in five matches for the Lilywhites in their successful campaign.

Louth’s Darren Geoghegan is the Lory Meagher Cup hurler of the year. He too was prolific with 2-30 in the winning of the competition, top scoring in the final against Longford.