Mathew Costello named young sportsperson of the year

Meath's minor football team captain Mathew Costello has been selected as the Young Sportsperson of the Year and will receive his trophy at the 12th annual Meath Sports Awards at Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim on Friday 18th January.

Seven contenders were announced in December and following lengthy discussions by the members of the Meath Chronicle sports department, Conall Collier, Fergal Lynch and Jimmy Geoghegan, the Dunshaughlin teenager was selected as the overall recipient.

Costello was the captain of the Meath minor team that won the inaugural Leinster MFC title at the u-17 grade and the Royal County made it to the All-Ireland MFC semi-final against Galway at Croke Park.

Meath manager Joe Treanor was blessed with so many talented individuals to choose from for his minor team and to help blend all those individual talents together Treanor also had a magnificent leader in the Dunshaughlin player.

Of course it helped that Costello also fell into the bracket of being one of the teams potent attackers, so while he let most of his football do the talking it was his leadership skills and inspirational qualities that provided inspiration for those around him.

Costello's club mate Luke Mitchell took most of the scoring plaudits throughout the campaign and was also nominated for the Young Sportsperson of the Year accolade.

Costello's impact on the team was also recognised by the Electric Ireland Allstar committee when he was picked at centre-forward, along with Mitchell at corner-forward, on the Minor Football Team of the Year.

In line with Electric Ireland’s ‘This is Major’ campaign, the Minor Star Awards created a major moment for minor players, showcasing the outstanding achievements of individual performers throughout the championship season.

The 2018 Football Team of the Year was carefully selected by Electric Ireland panellists that included All-Star-winning former Cork footballer, Daniel Goulding and All-Star-winning former Tyrone captain, Sean Cavanagh.

Whenever pressed into media duties, especially in the latter stages of Meath's Leinster MFC campaign and subsequent All-Ireland quarter-final against Derry and semi-final against Galway, the Dunshaughlin player was always composed and courteous.

Never one to claim any of the glory, Costello insisted on extolling the virtues of his team mates and with that type of an attitude he is sure to be a major force for Meath football teams in the coming years.

The 2018 Meath Young Sportsperson of the Year award is sponsored by Meath Local Sports Partnership in conjunction with the Meath Chronicle.

2018 NOMINEES

GAA - Matthew Costello.
GAA - Luke Mitchell.
GAA - Orlagh Lally.
Cycling - Jack Caldwell.
Soccer - Jimmy Corcoran.
Pitch & Putt - Sophie Farnan.
Pitch & Putt - Evan Carry.

ROLL OF HONOUR

2009 - Kellie Allen (Equestrian).
2010 - Eleanor Murray (Swimming).
2011 - Cillian O'Sullivan (GAA).
2012 - Eamon Wallace (Athletics).
2013 - Elizabeth Morland (Athletics).
2014 - Harry Purcell (Athletics).
2015 - Kevin McGrath (Athletics).
2016 - Megan Thynne (GAA).
2017 - Rachel Huijisdens (Basketball).
2018 - Mathew Costello (GAA)