PwC GAA/GPA Players of the Month for June announced
PwC GAA/GPA Players of the Month for June, from left, in hurling, Conor Burke of Dublin, in camogie, Niamh Mallon of Galway, in football, Jordan Morris of Meath, and in ladies’ football, Emma Murray of Waterford with their awards at PwC offices in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Waterford captain Emma Murray is the PwC GPA Women’s Player of the month for football while Galway’s dynamic forward Niamh Mallon picks up the award for camogie. Dublin’s Conor Burke and Meath’s up and coming star Jordan Morris are named the PwC GAA/GPA hurling and football Player of the Month winners.
As proud supporters of all codes across Gaelic Games, PwC celebrates excellence in camogie, hurling, and football through our Player of the Month awards, recognising the top-performing male and female athletes. This month’s winners all made significant contributions to their teams’ progression in June, as they approached the business end of the All-Ireland Championships.
In June, Mallon played a defining role in Galway’s eight point victory over Kilkenny adding one point to her personal tally, before a player of the match performance in the top of the table clash against Waterford helped secure Galway a ticket direct to the All-Ireland semi-final at the end of July.
Murray’s two points and relentless energy were the catalyst for a brilliant Déise performance as they came close to securing a first ever senior football championship win over Dublin, only for Dublin to rescue a draw with a last second point. Waterford bounced back from that disappointment in style with Murray captaining the side to 21 point victory over Leitrim.
Burke scored a point off the bench for the Dublin hurlers in their 21 point victory over Kildare to earn his place in the starting side for the All-Ireland quarter final against Limerick. In an enthralling game, Dublin made light of their underdogs tag, holding Limerick at bay despite playing the majority of the game with 14 men. Burke’s standout performance, with five points from play, was invaluable in getting Dublin over the finish line and setting up an All-Ireland semi-final against Cork.
Two superb victories for Morris’ Meath this month over Kerry and Galway has booked the Royals a spot in this year’s All-Ireland semi-finals. After what many thought was a season ending injury for Morris earlier this year in the Leinster Championship, he has fought back to be Meath’s star attacker. Morris scored two points as Meath defeated the Kingdom in the All-Ireland Championship for the first time since 2001. In the All-Ireland quarter-final against a heavily favoured Galway side, Morris gave a man of the match performance, scoring 1-6, 1-2 of that tally in the decisive final minutes of the game as the Royal County set up a semi-final date with destiny against Donegal.
Enda McDonagh, Managing Partner, PwC Ireland, said: “It’s an incredible achievement to inspire your team to victory in the pressure cooker environment of any inter-county match, never mind in the latter stages of the All-Ireland championship.
“Our June winners have done exactly that and everyone at PwC extends warm congratulations to Niamh, Emma, Conor, and Jordan on their well-deserved recognition as June’s Players of the Month."
Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “As the championships were at their busiest and most frantic in the month of June, the job of picking the players of the month was arguably at its toughest. The performances of Jordan and Conor and that of Emma and Niamh however, were a class apart and I congratulate them on their awards and thank them for the commitment they make to Gaelic games and the enjoyment they give to so many. These PwC All-Star awards allow us to recognise the extra special talents we are fortunate to have playing our games.”
GPA CEO Tom Parsons said; “I want to extend heartiest congratulations to Conor, Emma, Jordan and Niamh on this recognition of your outstanding performances in June, as voted by your fellow players.
Your teams have given us incredible Championship excitement this year and it takes something extra special to rise to the top when all players are pushing themselves to their limits. So thank you all individually for putting on display the best of the skills, athleticism and leadership in our games.
I also want to thank PwC for your ongoing support for Inter-county players and the GAA for your continued partnership in this awards scheme.”