It was certainly a fantastic Friday just over a week ago when The Front Row Union held our Annual Awards Night in the Penthouse Suite of the Europa.
It was all a bit of a rush this year trying to fit it all in to our busy schedule but in the end there was a reasonable turn out of players and illustrious guests amongst the usual selection of reprobates!
Dan Tuohy and Ed O’Donoghue were the guests of honour for the night, big thank you to the delightful Gemma for organising the players and keeping them in order, and it was great to see Ulster 99 Legend Rab Irwin back for the second year.
Guests and Prizewinners at the FRU Awards
A few of the our guests had travelled considerably to attend the big night particularly Alison and Mike who travelled all the way from Surrey and Sue and Walt who journeyed all the way from Bath. We were also joined by Bahadir “Bob” Yazaydin from the Turkish Branch of the Ulster Supporters Club who travelled up that morning from deepest Cork and, of course, there was a late smattering of the touring Dartmouth PigDogs from Nova Scotia.
After a few delays and more than a few pints we eventually got round to the main event of the night, the Awards, and, as always, there were a few hotly disputed prizes outside of the main presentations!
The winners were as follows.
| Leaf Properties Lanzarote Player of the Year 2010
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| Winner – Andrew Trimble Runners Up – Willie Faloon, Stephen Ferris Andrew Trimble eventually came out top in the biggest online poll in Ulster rugby, showing a fair reflection of his form throughout the season. His exciting individual try against Bath at the Rec was the highlight of the season but Andrew continued to perform at a high level throughout the remainder of the season claiming the Player of the Month prizes for January and May. |
| The Sportstrolley.com Predictions League 2010
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| Winner – Andrew Calvert Runners Up – Aintnothinbuta, Neill, Stately Homes With over 80 competitors starting the competition this year this was the biggest Predictions League to date. It remained a hard fought contest to the end but Andrew Calvert managed to hold off the challengers to take the ultimate prize. |
| The Schools Cup Player of the Year 2010
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| Winner – David McGuigan (Friends) Runners Up – George Dennison (Ballymena), Tom Saunderson (Larne) I was lucky to cover some cracking Northern Bank Schools Cup matches this year and throughout the series of games the three players named above all stood out. Interestingly all three played No. 8 for their schools and they caught the eye not only for their individual performances but also for the impact they had on their teams. All had the ability to drive their teammates on when the going got tough. Dennison went on to lift the Schools Cup with Ballymena but it was McGuigan who consistently caught the eye over the series of games with strong performances against Larne, Sullivan and Ballymena. |
| Ulster Legend Still Trucking 2010
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| Winner – Rab Irwin (Ards) Runner Up – Shane Stewart (Ards) I was delighted to see two Ulster legends take the field during my coverage of the McCambley Cup Final at Ravenhill this year with both making appearances for the veteran side Ards IV’s. Both made significant impact on the game (and in Shane’s case a few significant impacts on his opposite number resulting in a sin bin) but the prize goes to Rab Irwin who judging by the colour of his face at the end of the game had , once again, given his all. |
| Oversees Supporter 2010
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| Winner – The Ulster Turkish Supporters
Runners Up – Surrey Red Hand, Flat-top |
| I Wish I Hadn’t 2010
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| Winner – Knoxy Runners Up – Boys on Tour, Dergman The “I Wish I Hadn’t” Award, or to give it it’s full title “I Wish I Hadn’t Had My Photo Taken While I Was Doing That” was another keenly contested prize with more entrants than ever before! Despite strong entries from Dergman and his “Magners Scrum Cap” and Boy’s on Tour and their “Tyrone GAA Hen Night” this years prize goes to Knoxy for his complete embodiment of the “I Wish I Hadn’t” ethos. An enthusiastic traveller Knoxy is now famous for ringing The FRU offices as soon as he steps off the plane on returning from an away trip and asking from certain photos not to be included! Needless to say we show (most of) them anyway! |
| Top Totty 2010
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| Winner – Granville Hall Runners Up – Jonny King, Stevie J The most eagerly awaited award of the night the Top Totty prize is rotated each year between the players and the supporters and this year it was the supporters turn to have their manliness recognised! Once again some outstanding candidates with youngster Stevie “Strike a Pose” J and Jonny “Look manfully into the distance” King putting in highly commendable campaigns for the award throughout the season. However there could only be one winner and after undergoing intensive surgery this year and making a full recovery to his Studly Dudley best the award goes to Granville “Lock up your Daughters” Hall! |
Corrections, comments or questions?