Inside Track: Louth merited more All-Star nominations

The only surprise about Louth’s representation on the football’s All-Star nominations is that it isn’t bigger. Sam Mulroy, Ryan Burns and last year’s award-winner, Craig Lennon, are included in the list of 40, with – and this is another surprise – Donegal getting most nominees.

Conall McKeever and Ciarán Downey can be considered unlucky not to have been also given the nod, and a case could also be made for Donal McKenny and Tommy Durnin.

READ NEXT: Louth GAA club | Senior, intermediate, and junior championship round-up

McKeever was one of the most consistent in Louth’s campaign, which yielded a Leinster championship win and hard-fought defence of their league’s Division Two status, while Downey had arguably his best season in the county colours.

Though it doesn’t come into consideration, the duo’s performances significant, if nothing else, demonstrating their 2025 wellbeing.

Sam Mulroy, who was in the running for an award last year along with Lennon, Durnin and McKenny, has again put himself in the picture, having claimed joint-second in the championship scoring charts.

Scoring from play and placed kicks, the Naomh Mairtín clubman came in with 49pts (4-37), the same as Galway’s Robert Finnerty, but well off David Clifford. However, whereas each of the other two had eight outings, Mulroy had six.

Nine of his scores came from two-pointers, again placing him third in the table behind the Kerry pair, Clifford and Seán O’Shea.

The one that’s best remembered came late in the Leinster final, giving Louth a lead which Craig Lennon enhanced with a point to make the final score 3-14 to 1-18.

Lennon also claimed a goal that day, a score which is sure to get a play or two when it comes time for RTE Sport to review the championship. The Mochta’s man might have scored more like that had his season not been restricted by injury.

Ryan Burns also figured in the charts, this one confined to scores from play. His 1-20 was amassed in seven matches, putting him alongside Down’s Danny Magill and Meath sharpshooter, Ruairí Kinsella, and ahead of Armagh’s Eoin Conaty, who’s been nominated for the young player of the year.

Clifford is nailed on to take the player of the year, an award he already has won twice.

That aside, there’ll be an angry word or two down Kerry way over being beaten by Donegal in the nominations head-count, nine compared to the Ulster county’s 10.

But no doubt they’ll take consolation from having finished in front when the counties last went head to head.