Forget the All-Stars, these are the awards that GAA players really want to win.
The Maurice Fitz award for the score with the most outrageous curl of the week
Another week, another outrageous goal from Galway ace Joe Canning.
Ok, this shot may not have a curl on the ball, but you could say that technically, Joe Canning did curl his body in order to score this amazing goal.
Facing away from the ball, he turned in one fluid movement, caught the sliotar and stuck it in the back of the net to round off a thoroughly beautiful pirouette.
Absolutely magical from our favourite Joe.
The ‘business at the back and sides, party up front’ championship haircut of the week award
Plenty of choices to choose from this weekend but we have decided to go for Rebel full-back, Eoin Cadogan for this high and tight haircut he sported on Sunday afternoon.
The skin tight hair could be seen to be symbolic of his no-nonsense approach when it comes to full-back play, while the wavy top could represent his willingness to party when the football season is finished.
We think we’re reading too much into it, if he’s anything like us, he just takes what the barber gives him…
©INPHO/Donall FarmerThe GAA shtyle statement of the week
How could anybody follow up the dickie bow Tomás O’Sé sported last weekend? Well a certain football referee made a great effort at it this week…
Hipster Ref. @BeoIreland pic.twitter.com/Kgi6t2c9o3
— Paddy McKenna (@PaddyMcKenna) July 4, 2015
Meath referee David Gough took charge of Roscommon v Cavan in the qualifiers sporting one of the most hipster beards we’ve seen in quite a while.
He managed to perfectly pull off the seamless blend from hair to beard that we all secretly crave and for that he deserves tremendous credit.
We await hurling referee, Brian Gavin’s style response next weekend…
The ‘did he get that from the soccer?’ showboat of the week
We had a hard time not putting down Joe Canning twice in this piece but in the end we went for Cork centre-forward Donncha O’Connor.
Running onto the ball at speed, O’Connor showed off volleyball skills we never knew he had when he tapped the ball without catching it over the onrushing Brendan Kealy.
The fact that he pulled off this skill despite the fact that Fionn Fitzgerald wanted to swap jerseys early makes it all the more impressive. The finish displays the kind of finesse you expect to see from the likes of Messi, Ronaldo or Walters.
Sign that maybe the GAA isn’t getting soft at all award
No contest here, it is the monster collision between Kieran Joyce and Jonathan Glynn during Sunday’s Leinster Final in Croke Park.
Both men required attention afterwards but thankfully were able to continue on with the game after a firm dose of the magic sponge.
Only in the GAA moment of the week
This magnificent commentary of Joe Canning’s goal from Sean Walsh and Conor Hayes on Galway Bay FM is well worth a listen and one of our favourite moments of the weekend.
All it needed was an extremely long and exaggerated exclamation of ‘gooooooaaaaaalllllll!’
JOE’s Guaranteed Irish Sports’ Star of the Week Award, a tribute to the tradition of incredibly long names for award titles in the GAA
Kilkenny constantly punished an error-ridden Galway side in GAA HQ on Sunday, and central to that clinical performance was TJ Reid.
The Ballyhale man was unplayable as he scored 1-9 (5fs, 1’65’) while also turning provider for a number of other vital scores. In a rich vein of form, the country’s backs are having sleepless nights at the prospect of facing the Kilkenny star.
©INPHO/Tommy Grealy
