Richie O'Neill said that he was proud of the Galway players after an emotionally-charged Allianz Hurling League tie at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last night.

The Tribesmen fell to their second defeat in Group A as they lost 1-26 to 0-23 to table-toppers Cork but selector O'Neill was full of praise for the way they had acquitted themselves against the backdrop of the tragic death of Paul Shefflin, brother of manager Henry Shefflin.

"Obviously we would have loved the result to go differently," O'Neill said when speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards.

"To come down here after that event, get 23 points, though 18 wides really hurt us, against a team of Cork's calibre that are flying in the league was really strong.

"For the events that went on we were really proud of them. They applied themselves really well but we could never get it back to three points."

Both teams stood for a minutes silence before the game in memory of All-Ireland club winner Paul Shefflin who died suddenly while out running on Friday afternoon.

"It was shocking to get the call yesterday, the tragedy that had come on Paul, Ballyhale and the Shefflin family," O'Neill added.

"An absolutely brilliant chap. I got involved with Ballyhale with Henry in 2018 and Paul was just a real rock steady, solid guy in the parish and in the club."

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