Waterford forward Stephen Bennett is the March winner of the WLR FM / Granville Hotel Monthly GAA Award.
The Ballysaggart ace had a superb National Hurling League campaign, and was at the peak of his powers throughout the month of March - as Waterford went on to win their first piece of silverware since 2015, when coasting past Cork in the final.
Bennett was the star of the competition from the off, hitting 5-18 in just two games in February, against Dublin and Laois.
Bennett, an All-Star winner and former Hurler of the Year, has been no stranger to the WLR / Granville Award - as he has been at the forefront of all things positive for both Waterford and Ballysaggart in recent months.
March began excellently for both Bennett and the Déise, as they overturned an early deficit to come back and defeat Tipperary by 1-28 to 0-21 in Division 1B. It was an outstanding individual display from the Ballysaggart man, who plundered a whopping 1-16 on his own - 1-4 of which came from play.
The Ballysaggart man then succumbed to injury, missing out on a six-point defeat at the hands of Kilkenny where his loss was certainly felt by the visitors, but his teammates bounced back in style in the semi-final against their South-East rivals Wexford, hitting 5-20 to afford Bennett among others a chance to take home a league medal against Cork in Thurles.
As has become the norm, Bennett put in a man-of-the-match display on the big stage. Waterford thumped their arch-rivals by 4-20 to 1-23 at Semple Stadium, and Bennett was responsible for 2-11 of that tally. 2-2 of that came from play on the night, his second goal lauded in hurling quarters across the country as a piece of individual brilliance.
Across just four games, Bennett hit 8-51 in Waterford’s successful league campaign. 4-9 of that came from play, and Bennett’s fine form has continued as he notched ten points in both Munster Championship games to date against Tipperary & Limerick.
Since Liam Cahill took over as Waterford manager in 2020, Bennett has hit 16-227 across 27 league and championship matches.
The Ballysaggart ace was delighted to receive the award, and is looking forward to getting to grips with both Cork & Clare in upcoming provincial clashes.
