Masterson - Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month

  • Dec 09,2010

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE MONTH: FOURTEEN WOMEN from 12 different sporting disciplines complete The Irish Times list of candidates for the 2010 Sportswoman of the Year award, the winner of which will be announced in Dublin on Friday week. And, without a shadow of a doubt, in what has been a remarkable year for Irish women in sport, the list boasts the most impressive collection of achievements since the awards began in 2004.

And it is the captains of this year’s All-Ireland winning Gaelic football and camogie teams, Dublin’s Denise Masterson and Wexford’s Una Leacy, who complete the list.

Having already lost in the 2003 and 2004 All-Ireland finals, Dublin’s one-point defeat to Cork last year, having led by two points with less than 10 minutes to go, might have been the cue for the bulk of the team – among them stalwarts like Masterson, Lyndsey Davey, Sinéad Aherne, Mary Nevin, Lyndsey Peat and Cliodhna O’Connor – to find a less painful way of passing their weekends.

And when they suffered relegation from Division One of the National League earlier this year, the signs were hardly there that 2010 would be the year they would finally win the All-Ireland senior title.

But win it they did, their 3-16 to 0-9 victory over Tyrone, Aherne contributing 2-7 of their tally, reward for a team Masterson insisted knew all along it was far from finished. Her own contribution that day was immense, both as captain and as her team’s driving force in midfield.

Masteron and Leacy therefore complete the 2010 list, then, that is, quite simply, the best we’ve ever had. Spare a thought for the judges who have to choose between them for the overall award.

The 2010 Monthly Winners – January : Aoife Hoey and Claire Bergin (Bobsleigh); February : Jessica Kurten (Equestrian); March : Katie Walsh (Horse racing); April : Dora Gorman (Soccer); May : Valerie Mulcahy (Gaelic football); June : Danielle McVeigh (Golf); July : Derval O’Rourke (Athletics); August : Gráinne Murphy (Swimming) and Madeline Perry (Squash); September : Katie Taylor (Boxing); October : Ciara Mageean (Athletics); November : Denise Masterson (Gaelic football) and Una Leacy (Camogie).

Story courtesy of the Irish Times