Kildare's Jimmy Hyland named U20 Footballer of the Year after All-Ireland success

Kildare U20 star Jimmy Hyland has been named as the Eirgrid U20 Footballer of the Year after helping to inspire his team to the inaugural U20 All-Ireland Football Championship title in August.

Hyland was nominated alongside Kildare captain Aaron Masterson and Mayo captain Ryan O’Donoghue, but there was little surprise when it was revealed that the live wire corner-forward took the gong after being named Man of the Match in the Leinster final, the All-Ireland semi-final and ultimately the All-Ireland final victory over Mayo.

The Ballyteague man was the star of the show as Kildare ended their 63-year wait for an All-Ireland football title at any level, and he was named as the Eirgrid GAA U20 Leinster Player of the Province for Leinster.

Hyland was in superb form for Kildare throughout the Leinster Championship, but he kicked it up a notch in the final win over Dublin when he scored eight points and won a penalty that was scored by Tony Archbold.

He went on to plunder 1-8 in the thrilling All-Ireland semi-final win over Kerry, before putting on a masterclass in attacking play against Mayo in the final when he shot 10 points for the Lilywhites, eight of which came from play.