Last Saturday may have saw Cork scrape by Waterford by the skin of their teeth in Dungarvan, but the Rebel county's juniors were much more comfortable against the hosts in what was a massively special occasion for one man in particular.

One year after donating a kidney to his older sister, Mícheál Ó Laoire returned to don the red and white jersey for the Leesiders as they strode past the Deise men on a 3-21 to 0-9 score-line and into this year's Munster JFC final.

Since Niamh's successful operation 12 months ago, the Naomh Abán man has fully recuperated, playing a starring role from centre-field at the weekend, and his club manager Eoghan Hyde sang his praises in full afterwards having been present at Fraher Field for his return.

"It was unbelievable to see. I remember last year we were shocked first to hear that Niamh was so ill," Hyde told The42.ie

"In Ballyvourney football is like a religion but when that happened you were just thinking of her and the family. For Mícheál to have the courage to have the operation and be so selfless was amazing.

"We didn't know whether he was going to come back at all but he was always adamant he would."

A Munster U21FC winner with the Rebels in 2011, Ó Laoire was a key member of the Cork squad which captured the All-Ireland JFC title two years later, earning him a deserved call into the senior panel for the National League in 2014.

Next month the Ballyvourney native will look to help his county to its third Munster JFC title in six years (and 29th overall) when they face either Limerick or Kerry on June 27th.

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