TYPICALLY it’s a representative of an Ulster Championship-winning team that picks up the Ladies Footballer of the Year around, but Orlaith Prenter has bucked the trend by taking this year’s honour.

The star forward had an absolutely phenomenal season, shooting the lights out time-and-time again as Moneyglass reached a first ever Ulster Senior Championship final.

Consider her performances in Ulster – she scored a stupendous 1-13 against St Macartan’s, 0-8 against Bredagh and weighed in with 1-6 in their Ulster final showdown against Donaghmoyne.

She’s by no means just a ‘flair player’ either, kicking four clutch points late on in their semi-final win against St Macartan’s, a hard-fought battle she highlighted at Friday night’s All-Stars ceremony at the Hillgrove in Monaghan.

Prenter said: “We knew they were going to be serious competition heading into the match and that’s exactly how it turned out. It looked like they were going to edge it but we showed a real drive to push on and get the result taking us to the Ulster final.”

They gave a great account of themselves in the Ulster final showdown against ladies titans Donaghmoyne, and while the result didn’t go their way, the whole experience of the occasion and the quality of the opposition should stand to them.

“It was a great match and showed us where we need to be if we’re to win an Ulster final. It was a tight game in the end so we took solace from the fact we weren’t far away from a team of the calibre of Donaghmoyne.”

Asked what it meant to pick one of the big individual awards on the night, the Moneyglass hotshot said: “I definitely wasn’t expecting it at all but it’s great. Hopefully we can have another good year and it might be someone else’s turn next time around.

“It was a great night, my mum and dad really enjoyed it and there were a few other Moneyglass girls picking up awards so it’s definitely something I’ve really enjoyed.”