EOIN Reddan capped a sparkling first season with Wasps when he was named Players' Player of the Year at the club's end of season awards night last week.

The scrum half arrived from Munster last summer as understudy to Matt Dawson, but a string of accomplished performances saw him usurp the World Cup winner for the No9 shirt at Wasps, while also winning his first Ireland cap during the 2006 Six Nations.

Described by head coach Shaun Edwards as "a little hero", Reddan underlined his committment to the club in the latter stages of the season, when injury robbed Wasps of three of their five scrum halves.

Reddan himself was sufferring with a groin injury but played through the pain in Wasps' cause.

He said: "I'm very proud to receive this award. To be acknowledged by your own team-mates really means a lot, and I'm absolutely over the moon to have been recognised like this by the boys at Wasps.

"I came to Wasps to set myself a challenge of playing with the best and improving my game, and I knew the minute I came it was the right move.

"The way things have gone is so much better than I even dared to expect though.

"The help and advice I received from Shaun Edwards and Matt Dawson have been massively important in helping me, and the physios have been brilliant in managing to keep me going to the end of the season.

"It was obviously hugely disappointing to have lost against Sale last weekend. Going to Twickenham for the Premiership Final would just have topped off a dream season for me, following on from the Six Nations, my first cap and winning the Powergen Cup.

"It wasn't to be though, and while it's sad that we didn't get there, this award goes to make up a little bit for that."

Tom Voyce was also honoured on the night with the Supporters' Player of the Year award, and his try against Bristol last November was named Try of the Season.

Matt Corker was named Young Player of the Year, John Hart and Martin Purdy shared the Community Player of the Year title while the Academy Player of the Year was Rob Webber.

In addition, Matt Dawson received an Outstanding Service to Rugby presentation while Lawrence Dallaglio and Alex King made presentations to Stuart Abbott, Mark Lock and Ben Gotting for Outstanding Services to Wasps.