A Tyrone GAA club has paid tribute to a talented player after his death as a result of a road crash on Thursday evening.
Killyclogher native John Rafferty, who was aged 21, tragically lost his life in a collision on the A5 Curr Road near Beragh between a car and a tractor.
A highly talented player, John played for Tyrone at Under 20 level. At club level, John captained his local side to a minor Championship back in 2019.
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In a tribute to John posted on social media, Killyclogher GAA said everyone at the club was devastated to hear the news about John.
“Our club is devastated to announce the tragic passing of our senior player, John Rafferty. Our most sincere and heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with John’s family Felix, Roisin, Clare and Michael, his wider family, his wide circle of friends and his past and current teammates,” the post said.
“John started playing for our club at a young age where his talent, effort and attitude made him stand out as an exceptional player. Indeed, he captained his Primary School, St. Mary’s, in the Donnelly Cup.
“He developed as a special footballer over the next few years and John went on to captain our Minor team which annexed the County Championship in 2019. His winning-captain’s speech in Loughmacrory that day was quite remarkable and showed a level of maturity and leadership that defied his young age.”
The club went on to say John was ‘admired and respected’ by all who knew him.
“John’s talents subsequently led him to make his Killyclogher Senior Football team debut the next year, and was recognised at County level when he was brought into the 2020 Tyrone U20 panel. He also represented the Tyrone U20s in 2021.
“Only two weeks ago, John played in the Tyrone Senior League Final where he performed with his usual exceptionally high levels of skill, determination and effort. Although a younger member of the senior squad, John was admired and respected by all involved because of the pure honesty of his performances, whether that was in training or in matches.
“Although supremely focused in training and match situations, never settling for anything below the best, John was full of fun which will leave a massive gap in our club.
“Our sorrow, however, pales into insignificance when compared to that of the Rafferty family. We will endeavour to wrap a collective arm of support around them at this time.”
In a statement earlier on Friday, a spokesperson for the PSNI said: “Police can confirm that a man has sadly died following a two-vehicle road traffic collision in Beragh on Thursday, October 27.
Inspector Scott Fallis said: "Officers, along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service received and responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision between a tractor and a car in the Curr Road area just before 7.55pm.
"Our enquiries are ongoing and we would ask that anyone who was in the area at the time and saw anything, or who may have dashcam footage, contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, quoting reference 1731 of 27/10/22."
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