GLIST: Niall McCoy goes star gazing into the 2024 Sam Maguire race

With the All-Stars now just over a month away, Niall McCoy’s side is unsurprisingly dominated by his native Armagh with seven players making the cut

Blaine Hughes (Armagh)

NIALL Morgan was immense but Blaine Hughes just edges him after a terrific season. One major error, Aaron McKay saving his blushes against Fermanagh, and near flawless after that. Few bad kick-outs late in the final, but given he had suffered a cruciate injury in the warm-up, that’s more than excusable.

Johnny McGrath (Galway)

GALWAY’S go-to man-marker this season and performed so well for so long. Kept Conor Turbitt quiet in the final and if the Tribe County had prevailed, probably would have been crowned Young Player of the Year.

Aaron McKay (Armagh)

ARGUABLY Armagh’s most important player, he shut down some big names, made great goal-line saves and was the cornerstone of their defensive set-up. Oh, he scored the winning goal in the All-Ireland final too. Should be an absolute cert.

Barry McCambridge (Armagh)

FROM unable to get his place in Ulster to very possibly Player of the Year, the Lurgan man had quite the end to the season. Goals against Roscommon and Kerry and should have had one against Derry too. Defensive duties equally strong. An amazing sprint finish to the season.

Dylan McHugh (Galway)

MANY people’s Player of the Year heading into the All-Ireland final and in the end didn’t even make the shortlist. It’d be unfair to remember his season for his effort that hit the post, because he was fantastic throughout 2024. Scored 0-6 in the championship, including two big scores against Donegal, and had a hand in so many more scores.

Brian Ó Beaglaioch (Kerry)

PERSISTENT calf problems stunted his influence last season, but e was back with a bang in 2024. Some fine highlights in there from three points from play against Meath to being the best player on the park against Derry.

Peadar Mogan (Donegal)

FORM dipped a bit towards the end of the campaign but how can you deny a player who won the GAA’s Player of the Month for both May and June? A constant bundle of energy, with his driving runs drilling away at the opposition.

Ben Crealey (Armagh)

BIG Ben had a dream season and his performances only get better and better when you watch back. On reflection, his injury in the Ulster final was massive given what transpired and how good he had been in the game. Immense showing against Galway.

Paul Conroy (Galway)

ONE of the easiest picks on the team, Conroy may be long in the tooth as far as intercounty footballers go, but he’s aging like a fine wine. Ruled the skies and kicked some mammoth scores. Kept up his tradition of always performing well against Armagh too, scoring five points in two championship games against them this season.

John Maher (Galway)

ON the shortlist for Player of the Year and that’s a fair call given his sparkling end to the season. Big games against Monaghan, Dublin and Donegal in the All-Ireland series and brought the fight to Armagh too. His work for Céin Darcy’s first-half point epitomised all that is good about his play.

Rian O’Neill (Armagh)

SOME games didn’t go to plan, notably the Ulster final, but when he was on it, he was awesome. Some of his scores were, as usual, from the very top drawer and his defensive work-rate was under-appreciated too. A massive impact on Armagh’s Sam Maguire triumph.

Oisín Conaty (Armagh)

FOR so long this berth was going to Paudie Clifford, safe in the knowledge that Conaty is a lock for a gong in the form of the Young Player of the Year, but one last review makes it impossible to leave out. Man of the Match in the All-Ireland final and probable Man of the Match had Armagh won the Ulster final penalty shoot-out. Scoring bursts, like the 0-4 against Roscommon, ensured he was a constant threat and apart from one awful showing against Kerry, he was right up there with all Armagh’s forwards.

Oisín Gallen (Donegal)

PRODUCED arguably the best attacking 35 minutes of the championship with his outrageous first-half display against Armagh in the Ulster final; the quality of his scores were obscene. Was the fourth highest scorer this season, averaging five points per game. Perhaps more importantly, he showed a robustness in 2024 that suggested he really could be the elite forward to lead this team

Sam Mulroy (Louth)

SECOND in the championship scoring charts and also produced two of the top highest individual tallies as well. Maybe needs to take more risks with shooting in open play, but any thought that he is just a free-taker are very wide of the mark. Louth’s progression to the last eight owed a lot to his game intelligence, the player dropping deeper than normal and orchestrating so much of their play. Big turnover secured a famous win over Cork in Inniskeen too.

Conor Turbitt (Armagh)

NOT a great All-Ireland final, hell not even a great semi-final before earning redemption with two big extra-time scores, but Clann Eireann look certain to have two All-Stars in just over a month’s time with Turbitt scoring more from play this season than anyone else. Got the goal to break Roscommon and was a menace in Ulster, but perhaps his biggest play was the goal to revive Armagh in the group game with Galway – the draw changing the path of their season.

Do you agree with our selection? Who should have been included? Send in your team to editor@gaeliclife.com. We aim to publish our readers’ selections.