Longford goalkeeper Riane McGrath has won the inaugural ZuCar Golden Glove award, introduced to acknowledge goalkeeping excellence during the 2021 TG4 All-Ireland Championships.
McGrath’s magnificent late save against Fermanagh in the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate relegation play-off final helped to preserve Longford’s status in the grade, also earning her the Golden Glove award.
McGrath was one of five nominees for the prestigious individual honour, along with Meath’s Monica McGuirk, Louth’s Una Pearson, Tipperary’s Lauren Fitzpatrick and Fermanagh’s Shauna Murphy.
The winner was decided by public vote on the Ladies Gaelic Football Association website, with 3347 votes received. Of those, McGrath claimed 1042 votes, clear of her nearest challenger, Fitzpatrick, who finished with 837 votes.
Riane will be presented with her award in the coming days by a representative of ZuCar, the LGFA’s Official Performance Partner.
“I’m thrilled and honoured to win the inaugural ZuCar Glove award and also proud to accept it on behalf of my Longford teammates” explained Riane.
“It was an important save in an important game and I was pleased to play my part on the day in a very good overall team performance” added Riane. “I would like to thank everybody who voted for me and to ZuCar and the LGFA for an innovative award”.
