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Galway footballer Thomas Flynn has been named as the 2011 Cadbury Hero of the Future at an awards ceremony at Croke Park.

Flynn played a key role in Galway’s capture of the Cadbury GAA U21 Football All Ireland Championship against Cavan in Croke Park at the beginning of the month.

The St Mary’s of Athenry clubman had been previously named as a Cadbury Hero of the Match for his performance against Cork in the All Ireland Semi Final.

The judging panel which consisted of senior Kildare footballing legend Dermot Earley, former Dublin manager Paul Caffrey, TG4 journalist Michael O’Domhnaill and Kerry legend Darragh O’Se  took into account the public vote cast on cadburygaau21.com but, ultimately, Flynn’s heroic performances in both the semi-final against Cork and the final against Cavan edged the competition out in the end.

“Thomas was part of a very hard working Galway team,” O’Domhnaill said.

“He marked key players, including last year’s Young Player of the Year and he did this in a low key but highly effective manner.

“I look forward to seeing Thomas perform at U21 level in the coming years and believe he is a worthy winner of the 2011 Cadbury Hero of the Future.”

As the overall winner Thomas received a specially commissioned bronze award, and a cheque value of €1,000. In addition to this, Thomas’s club also received a grant of €1,000 as did the Galway County Board.