Browne is Tipperary's lone star

Eleven players who competed in September's All-Ireland football final have been selected on the Eircell 1998 All Star Football team underlining the precedence the championship takes over the league programme in determining who makes the grade.

The president of the GAA, Joe McDonagh, said that the awards "reflected the change in football's landscape and the new order that currently prevails".

Although five counties are represented on the team, National League winners Offaly do not feature at all while 1997 All-Ireland champions Kerry are also without an All Star.

That said, this year's team is far from contentious, with three of Kildare's highly-vaunted defensive unit providing the backbone for the back lines and Galway half-forward pair Jarlath Fallon and Michael Donnellan fronting the offensive six along with their team-mate Padraig Joyce, named at full forward.

Declan Browne, the electric corner forward who blazed his way into an unassailable position at the top of the national scorers' chart in the Munster championship, becomes Tipperary's first football All Star.

The selection of Dermot Earley, named at half forward after a sparkling summer for Kildare at both half forward and midfield, maintains something of a family tradition; his father, Dermot, won an All Star with Roscommon, while his uncle Paul was also a recipient in 1985.

Only one other family have been honoured in similar fashion; Liam O'Neill won an All Star with Galway in 1973 and his son Kevin was chosen on the 1993 line-up for his performances with Mayo.

Although supporters from shunned counties will undoubtedly argue the rights to inclusion of players not selected - Kerry may feel aggrieved at the absence of Seamus Moynihan, Offaly fans might feel their early-season promise deserved some sort of recognition - it is difficult to argue with the presence of those who make up the team.

Galway's Martin McNamara, the overall footballer of the year in the eyes of many people, was virtually an automatic choice for goalkeeper, despite the impressive form of his All-Ireland opposite number, Kildare's Christy Byrne.

Kildare's Brian Lacey (formerly of Tipperary), John Finn and Glen Ryan were also hotly tipped to bag three of the six defensive positions available and their inclusion is of little surprise. While Lacey was unyieldingly diligent in the corner of Kildare's defence and Glen Ryan established himself as a team-leader from the pivotal number six position, John Finn had a quietly devastating championship.

Five half forwards started against him in the championship last summer and each was brought to the bench early. For the record, they were Dublin's Ciaran Whelan and Ian Robertson, Mick Lawlor from Laois, Meath attacker Stephen Dillon and Kerry's William Kirby.

His economical consistency was mirrored by Galway's Tomas Mannion, the experienced defender who was also rewarded by the selection committee along with his team-mate, the pacey half back Sean Og de Paor.

The remaining defensive position, full back, went to Derry's Sean Martin Lockhart. The close-marking Lockhart became the linchpin of Derry's provincial campaign and he was also one of the few Derry players to emerge with credit after their pitiful showing in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway.

Lockhart is the only player from Ulster to make the All Star team. This would have been a remarkable statistic in the earlier part of this decade, but it is indicative of the rapid regression of Ulster teams in terms of effectiveness at All-Ireland level.

Similarly, Declan Browne is the lone flag-bearer for the Munster province, which for so long held football's most envied power bases in Cork and Kerry.

If anything, the 1998 All Stars emphasise the heavy bearing the All-Ireland final has on the eventual selection. Meath's John McDermott is the only Leinster representative other than those from Kildare to win a place. He has been listed at midfield, partnering Galway's link-man Kevin Walsh, who had a magical season. Although Kildare's midfield partnership of Niall Buckley and Willie McCreery was deemed to be the most potent in the country until the last hour of the championship, Walsh exerted enormous influence on the outcome of that final.

It is easy to sympathise with the case of Buckley, who did little wrong over the summer but Walsh's claim was undeniable while McDermott had a fine provincial campaign with Meath and is probably the most complete midfielder in the game right now.

The half-forward line virtually named itself. Galway's Ja Fallon and Michael Donnellan, breathtaking in the last half-hour of the All-Ireland final, were both in the running for the GAA Writers' Player of the Year (Fallon took the award) while Dermot Earley had to be accommodated on the All Star team, having been one of Kildare's brightest lights in a fairly erratic attack.

The decision to name Earley's county team-mate Karl O'Dwyer at corner forward will also be a popular one. The Waterville man had a lot to lose when he transferred to a Kildare side managed by his father, Mick, after he was consistently overlooked by the Kerry selectors. The move east seemed to rejuvenate his form and he punished his home county dearly in the All-Ireland semi-final.

He partners Galway's Padraig Joyce and Browne in the full forward line.

The 1998 All Star hurling team will be announced tomorrow night at a reception which is being broadcast live by RTE.