Derry News Sports Personality of the Year 2015 - THE SHORTLIST

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THE FINAL SIX STEP FORWARD

THE people of Derry have not been shy in coming forward these past few weeks as they have voted in their thousands to pick their Sports Personality of the Year award for 2015. Our Derry Now website has been red hot as friends, family, team mates and supporters have all stepped up to the plate, doing their utmost to make their favourite the winner this time around. So far there has been over 50,000 votes, an incredible response. But with just two weeks left in January, we have decided to cut the number of contenders from thirteen to just six. It’s time to pick your winner. Who will it be? You decide. CIARA McGURK One of the stories of the year came from the Ulster Championship final between Steelstown Ladies and O’Neill Shamrocks when Ciara McGurk slammed in a vital goal to bring her team right back into the game and set up an historic victory. Ciara was five months pregnant at the time. KEVIN STANLEY The man behind the success of North Star basketball team, Kevin Stanley is a colossus in the game in the North of Ireland. As a great man once said, ‘There is no ‘I’ in team, but there are five of them in ‘individual brilliance’. That individual brilliance has shone through on many an occasion in 2015. SEAN McGLINCHEY Current holder of the Derry News Sports Personality of the Year award Sean McGlinchey is again in contention. In May, McGlinchey clinched a gold medal at a three nation round robin tournament in Russia after one of his career-best performances. To top the year off, McGlinchey then won the club’s first ever McAlinden Cup at the Ulster Elite Championships held in Newry. NIALL WILSON The man responsible for the most spectacular knock-out of 2015, Niall Wilson is going places. At Chaos 15, welterweight Niall Wilson’s brutal knockout of Mark Duggan in a brief but exciting amateur fight went viral. There will be more to come from this impressive youngster in 2016. DARYL GURNEY The crowning moment of a memorable year for Daryl Gurney came when he knocked out Gary Anderson in the World Darts Player Championships. He was back in the spotlight again in December as he defeated Jamie Lewis in the PDC World Darts Championships before losing to Anderson. Regardless, 2015 was another one of progression for Gurney. FINNEEN BRADLEY Finneen Bradley is a terrific example of a multi-tasker. When she is not dishing out career advice at the North West Regional College, she is looking after a family of kickboxers. Making it all the more impressive is that she is a champion kickboxer herself. In 2015 she was part of the team responsible for training the MFKA fighters as part of TEAM Northern Ireland which competed internationally. Not only that, but she competed herself and swept the floor with her opponents, winning championships in the World Martial Arts Organisation and the World Kickboxing Council World Championships. IMPORTANT – You may have voted already, but now is the time to vote for your outright winner. Vote below. The competition closes on Friday, January 29, and the winner will be revealed in the Derry News on Monday February 1.