Keane gets top spot again

FAI AWARDS: Millwall's Steven Reid emerged from the weekend's league programme in England as the only doubt for Wednesday's Russia game after the young midfielder failed a fitness test ahead of his club's 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Despite the injury, Reid, who had been expected to take some part in the fixture, travelled to Dublin yesterday and last night collected his Eircom-sponsored Irish Under-21 player of the year award at the Citywest Hotel, but it is still not entirely clear whether he will be available to start Ireland's game at Lansdowne Road. Given the unusually healthy number of players who did emerge from the weekend's games unscathed, Ireland manager Mick McCarthy may opt to avoid antagonising his counterpart at the New Den by resting the midfielder anyway.

McCarthy received a pleasant surprise from Crewe where Coventry City's Gary Breen played all 90 minutes of his side's 6-1 victory, despite having limped out of the club's midweek game with a hamstring problem. Breen seems to have come through the game without any problems whatsoever and now looks certain to be available to McCarthy on Wednesday evening.

Elsewhere, Kevin Kilbane and Robbie Keane were both omitted by their club managers, but Niall Quinn scored the only goal of Sunderland's game at Derby to end his side's run without a win that had extended back to St Stephen's Day.

By yesterday afternoon, most of McCarthy's players were safely into Dublin where they had their first training session of the week.

Roy Keane, Lee Carsley, Dean Kiely and Richard Dunne all travelled after playing in England yesterday.

Keane, meanwhile, was last night named as the Irish player of the year for the second time. It is, in fact, the fifth time that the Corkman has been honoured at the annual event with the 30-year-old having previously won the Senior award in 1997, the Young player award in '93 and '94, as well as the Youth player in 1990.

Shay Given and Steve Staunton were both shortlisted this time, but in reality, the Manchester United captain, who played a pivotal role in guiding the Republic to this summer's World Cup finals in Japan and Korea, was something of a shoe-in.

While Damien Duff won the Young player award, Steven Reid rounded off a remarkable year by picking up the under-21 accolade.

The versatile midfielder actually played only a small part in Don Givens' side last year after making an impressive international debut at that level in Estonia. By the end of the year he had graduated to the senior ranks and is now one of the very few players to arrive on the scene late in the qualification campaign who is considered to be in with a serious chance of making McCarthy's travelling party of 23.

Other recipients of note at last night's prizegiving were Bohemians striker Glen Crowe, who scored 35 times in his club's double-winning campaign and who, despite the side's relatively disappointing form, has already managed 24 goals in all competitions this season.

Jonathan Daly, who played an important part in getting this year's Irish Youth team to the European Championship play-offs when the team won its initial group stage in Cork late last year, won the Youth award. Shamrock Rovers's Olivia O'Toole, who has scored 22 goals in 32 senior international appearances, won the women's player of the year, while Christy McElligot of Ballymun United, who is currently recovering from a serious road accident, was also honoured.

Former Irish skipper Liam Brady received the Hall of Fame Award. Currently working at Arsenal's Youth Academy, the Dubliner was capped 72 times for Ireland during an outstanding career that included spells at Inter Milan and Juventus as well, of course, as Arsenal.

As luck would have it, the man who ended Brady's career at international level, Jack Charlton, was named as International Personality of the Year . The pair must surely have had a lot of catching up to do after last night's function.

And Jim McLaughlin, believed by many to be the greatest manager in the history of the National League, was presented with this year's Special Merit Award.

McLaughlin won nine league titles and eight FAI Cups with Dundalk, Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. Now retired, he remains one of the most widely liked and respected figures within the game here.

SENIOR: Roy Keane (Manchester United)

YOUNG: Damien Duff (Blackburn Rovers)

UNDER-21: Steven Reid (Millwall)

EIRCOM LEAGUE : Glen Crowe (Bohemians)

YOUTH: Jonathan Daly (Stockport County)

UNDER-16: Pierre Ennis (Aston Villa)

WOMEN: Olivia O'Toole (Shamrock Rovers)

WOMEN'S UNDER-18: Maire Curtin

(Lifford FC)

Junior: Christy McElligot (Ballymun United); Under-15: William Flood (Manchester City); Schoolboys: Ashley White (St Macartans/Monaghan United); Intermediate: Barry Porter (Letterkenny Rovers); Special Merit Award: Jim McLaughlin; Hall of Fame: Liam Brady; International Personality: Jack Charlton.