Victorious Clare captain Tony Kelly and joint-manager Donal Moloney paid tribute to Gearoid O'Connell who played a starring role in the All-Ireland U21 hurling success less than a fortnight after his father was tragically killed in an accident on the family farm.

57-year-old Gerry O'Connell from Ballyea was found dead next to his tractor on Wednesday, September 3rd and Kelly remembered his passing in his victory speech in Semple Stadium on Saturday evening.

Afterwards, speaking to the Examiner, the Hurler of the Year said of his team-mate: "That just shows the character of the man.

"I went up to the field on Thursday morning, the day after his father had passed, and he was outside pucking the ball. He was on about going training on Friday night.

"He trained over the weekend and he came in to training with a smile on his face, a hard thing to do and I suppose its credit to the man to come out here this evening, tog out and put in a big performance as well."

Moloney echoed those sentiments: "It's been an incredibly tough week.

"We speak a lot about resilience and courage as a group, but for Gearoid O'Connell to do what he did in the last week and a half, with the grief he went through, it's incredible to go out there and play like that and give so much, after such a tragedy."

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