Andy Moran inspired me to embrace GAA, says Mayo U21 star Shairoze Akram

One of Mayo’s victorious All-Ireland U21 winners, Shairoze Akram, has thanked his club mate Andy Moran for forcing him to take up the game at the age of 11.

Akram became the first Pakistan-born player to win an All-Ireland medal when he helped Mayo to victory over Cork on Saturday night in Ennis. But none of it would have happened with the intervention of the Mayo senior captain.

There is a strong Ballaghaderreen influence in that Mayo U21 team - manager Mike Solan and selector John Ginty both hail from the club, while Akram, Seamus Cunniffe, and Ryan Lynch all represented the town in the U21 panel.