2015 Reardens All-Star football team takes on Cork senior side in unique clash in Clonakilty on Sunday
CORK senior footballer Paul Kerrigan returns to action this Sunday (January 17th) in a novel game in Clonakilty (2pm) when the Reardens All-Star football team takes on the Cork senior side.
The Reardens All-Stars team is made up of the 15 best club footballers in Cork last year, chosen by a selection of Cork sporting journalists, and leading its charge on Sunday is Kerrigan, who was named 2015 Reardens Footballer of the Year.
The Cork and Nemo forward feels this inaugural challenge match in Clonakilty offers a chance for players on both the Reardens All-Stars and the Cork team to put their hands up for inclusion in the county’s upcoming national league campaign – starting against Mayo on January 31st.
‘For fellas who are in with a shout of making the Cork panel and who are in and around the Cork panel, this game and the McGrath Cup final (against Clare) are the last two games before the national league,’ Kerrigan said.
‘For the Reardens All-Stars, a few lads who are in their mid to late 20s and who have got no real look-in with Cork, this is a chance for them to make their mark. It’s a novel game and hopefully it will draw a crowd.’
Kerrigan added: ‘All the individual awards are nice – and every player is delighted to get one – but at the end of the day you are looking to win something with your club and the fellas who are on the Reardens All-Stars team are looking to get on the Cork panel.
‘I have been tipping away myself. I took about five or six weeks off and I’ll be playing with the Reardens team. It will be my first game back since we (Nemo) lost to Clonmel in Munster. I wouldn’t expect any miracles from me but it will be nice to get back into it on Sunday.’
The full list of players who were awarded the Reardens All-Star football awards in 2015 include: Micheál Aodh Martin (Nemo); Daniel Hazel (Skibbereen), Aidan O’Reilly (Nemo), Chris Hayes (Castlehaven); JP Murphy (Ballincollig), Tomás Ó Sé (Nemo), Alan O’Donovan (Nemo); David Niblock (Nemo), Donal Óg Hodnett (Skibbereen); John O’Rourke (Carbery Rangers), Mark Collins (Castlehaven), Colin O’Brien (Nemo); Kevin Davis (Skibbereen), Barry O’Driscoll (Nemo), Paul Kerrigan (Nemo).
