January accolade for Casey Dunne
Ashbourne rugby player Casey Dunne is the Meath Chronicle / Cusack Hotel Group sportsperson of the month for January following his outstanding performance for the Meath club as they won the All-Ireland Junior Cup for the first time with a 22-20 victory against a highly-regarded Enniscorthy at Donnybrook on Saturday 28th January.
Dunne made a fine contribution to the victory and showed his pace as he launched a first-half solo raid to set up a vital Ashbourne try.
This year will be a busy one for the former Duleek / Bellewstown footballer as he will be in contention for a place on the Irish team that has qualified for the Rugby League World Cup in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea from the end of October this year.
Dunne scored for Ireland as they negotiated Russia to secure qualification at the Carlisle Grounds, Bray last October.
The 2017 Meath Chronicle / Cusack Hotel Group sportsperson of the year awards will take in early January 2018 at the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim.
Following a successful 10th anniversary event last month, the annual awards continue to grow in popularity and prestige and the top sportsmen and women in the county attend the invitation-only ceremony that this year was hosted by RTE’s Evanne Ni Chuilinn who is due to return again for the 2017 event.
The 2017 overall sportsperson of the year will be selected from one of the monthly winners.
ROLL OF HONOUR
2007 - Gordon Elliott.
2008 - Darren Sutherland.
2009 - Johnny Murtagh.
2010 - Damien McGrane.
2011 - Nina Carberry.
2012 - Cian O’Connor.
2013 - Barry Geraghty.
2014 - Devin Toner.
2015 - Gary Rogers.
2016 - Natalya Coyle.