Leinster counties were the big losers in this year's Eircell football All Stars. With last year's All-Ireland champions Meath and Leinster finalists Dublin (for the first time since 1982) drawing blanks, only one player, Kildare's Anthony Rainbow, makes the selection. This equals the province's lowest representation, a level reached only once previously - 20 years ago.

But the All Stars selection won't stir too much controversy before being presented tomorrow night, together with the yet-to-be-released hurling awards. All-Ireland champions Kerry lead the way with six players, followed by finalists Galway with four.

It was a season with few consistently outstanding performers and, as a result, one or two positions are filled a little unconvincingly. But there are hardly any omissions who can regard themselves as robbed. As many as 12 of the choices were virtually automatic, leaving some debate over the remaining three: right corner back, centrefield and left corner forward.

Derry's Kieran McKeever is a slightly surprising choice. He had a solid rather than spectacular summer. Ironically, the high-water mark of his year was probably the league final and replay last May when he wasn't playing corner back. In both matches he accomplished strikingly effective shut-outs on Meath play-maker Trevor Giles - but starting in the half backs where he played nearly all the league.

There was presumably an element of sentiment in the choice, in that McKeever has been an excellent defender during the last decade and was unlucky not to be honoured in 1992 and 1993 when he was the best corner back in the country.

The player slightly unlucky to lose out is Kildare's Ken Doyle, who featured prominently in the county's attritional march to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

At centrefield, there wasn't a host of options. Anthony Tohill staked his claim early in the summer and survives his injury-subdued display in the Ulster final. Darragh O Se is the ultimate beneficiary of the lack of competition in the position. He tended to drift in and out of matches, was poor in the drawn All-Ireland final and only emerged in the replay after injury forced Kevin Walsh to retire.

Even his best phases - against Cork and in the replayed All-Ireland semi-final with Armagh - were countered by anonymous displays in the same matches. Kildare's Willie McCreery would have been next on the list but his form also seesawed.O Se, his periods of delivery were on some of the biggest days of the year.

Galway's Derek Savage is named in the left corner, although his entire career has been on the right. He had a good year but would not have ousted Michael Francis Russell from the number 13 jersey. After an untaxing Connacht campaign, Savage was excellent in both the All-Ireland semifinal and drawn final.

The player to lose out in this process is Kerry's John Crowley, who had a major impact on his county's four All-Ireland matches. He will justifiably count himself unlucky to lose out.

Another Kerry player not to make it is Maurice Fitzgerald. Central to a seasonlong controversy about the county's failure to start him in any of the matches, he was nonetheless nominated on the back of a number of crucial interventions from the bench.

Interestingly - given the lack of candidates in the middle - two of these performances came in the centrefield sector, against Cork and the All-Ireland replay with Galway. Yet there'll hardly be major surprise at Fitzgerald's omission given that he never started a match and two of his displays as replacement, the Armagh replay and the Galway draw, weren't particularly influential.

There is nearly no continuity from last year's selection. Only Armagh captain Kieran McGeeney survives from 12 months ago. Maybe this is just as well, as the 2000 All Stars will be playing their 1999 counterparts in an exhibition match in Dubai next January. It means that there will be no bonanza for potential substitute All Stars.

This year's award winners will receive their trophies at tomorrow night's banquet in the Burlington Hotel where the hurling All Stars will also be announced.