Young Sports Stars of the Year Award winner No. 7: Daniel Molloy

The second winner in April in our Young Sports Stars of the Year Awards was a man to the fore in Ballina's run to rugby's All-Ireland League (AIL).

The club's dominance as the top junior rugby force in the province in 2017 saw them build on that in the 2018 season. Chief among their targets was to be promoted to the AIL. To achieve that took a serious amount of effort and planning, both on and off the field.

On the field, players of the calibre of Daniel Molloy helped Ballina RFC make that huge step up in class.

The young man, nicknamed 'The Concrete King', epitomised Ballina's great athleticism around the pitch and he gained an impressive reputation the length and breadth of Ireland.

Daniel not only contributed in the pack, but he also amassed a large amount of tries, scoring hat tricks on a number of occasions as Ballina won every available trophy in Connaught and qualified for the All-Ireland League.