mclarke

TENNENT’S/UGAAWA MERIT AWARD FOR FEBRUARY 2005

As the end of winter and the beginning of spring overlaps, the new GAA season hots up with Allianz football and hurling league games, colleges and universities football and hurling competitions, ladies’ football, All-Ireland club championships and handball forming a pot-pourri of action.

This, of course, gives a very wide choice from which we could select the winner of our Tennent’s Monthly Merit Award and there certainly were many names tossed up, all worthy of discussion.

In the end, however, one name kept cropping up time and again in the discussions and that was MARTIN CLARKE who starred with St Louis’ Kilkeel in the Dr MacRory Cup quarter-final and semi-final. Martin (17) emerged a clear winner of the honour.

“I’m absolutely delighted and shocked at this great honour,” enthused Martin when told he had won the award. “Coming off the back of winning a Bank of Ireland Colleges’ Allstar and getting to the MacRory final it is amazing. I read about Stephen O’Neill winning last month and saw him on television and I thought how nice it must be to win the award but I never thought that I would be the next winner.”

A Down minor last year, Martin has another season left at under-18 level. Last season he won MacLarnon Cup and All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship medals with St Louis’ and he has collected two under-16 championship and two league medals with An Riocht. A regular free-taker, Martin scored a peach of a goal against St MacCartan’s last month.

Others in the running for the February award were Tyrone’s Stephen O’Neill (again), Adrian Scullion (Down), Peter Armour (Stewartstown), Ciarán Strain (Pomeroy), Omagh CBS coach Kieran Donnelly, St Louis’ coach Cathal Murray and US Collegiate Handball champion Charly Shanks (Armagh).

Martin received his award of a sports voucher from Tennent’s Ireland, training gear from Pro*Star Sport, a Belleek China engraved vase, specially designed cuff links from Cloicín and two tickets plus overnight accommodation to the GAA Writers’ banquet at a presentation, made by Brian Houjston, Bass Communications & Sponsoring Manager (Ireland), in Belfast on March 9.