Costello named GPA/GAA player of the month

Dunshaughlin's Mathew Costello received the award after several excellent performances in the Leinster SFC

Meath’s Mathew Costello has been named the GAA/GPA Footballer of the month.

Costello’s influence was evident from the outset of the Leinster Senior Football Championship this month. In Meath’s opening round against Carlow, he was a key contributor to their 1-30 to 0-19 win.

The momentum continued in the quarter-final against Offaly, where Meath overturned a ten-point halftime deficit to win 1-25 to 0-21.

Costello played a vital role in the second-half revival, delivering a memorable performance.

The highlight of the month came in the semi-final clash with Dublin, where Meath, aided by Costello ended the Dubs' long-standing dominance in Leinster with a dramatic 0-23 to 1-16 victory.

Mathew spoke to GAA.ie after receiving the award. An All-Ireland SFC group with Cork, Roscommon, and Kerry brings further challenges that will be embraced. Costello accepts that there is a feeling in Meath that Robbie Brennan's charges are developing nicely despite the setback of losing last Sunday's Leinster Final.

"Sunday was important for us, to witness a crowd like that, to experience that sort of an occasion. If you're going to go anywhere, in this sport, you've to be able to deal with 60,000 or 70,000 plus at Croke Park." said Costello

"It should stand to us for the future, we know we've got better years ahead with a good group of players coming through. Hopefully, we can just harness that to get good performances."

Meath's panel features plenty of experienced campaigners, but the emerging players are benefitting from the exposure to high profile games.

"For sure, it is vital going ahead, that we get these experiences. You learn a lot more from a loss than you do from a win, which is hard to say now, and hard to take. That will stand to us."