THE ANNUAL PRESS Photographers Association of Ireland (PPAI) Awards were held last night to celebrate the country’s most talented photojournalists.

Among the 10 categories were prizes for Best Sports Action and Sports Non-Action and Inpho’s Ryan Byrne earned himself first place with his incredible snap.

It captures Garrett Sinnott and Darren Nolan of Oulart-the-Ballagh competing with Kilmacud Crokes pair Dillon Mulligan and Ryan O’Dwyer during the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final in November.

21-year-old Byrne told TheScore.ie: “Whatever way the schedule worked out it wasn’t the big game of the day. I wanted to find some pics that stood out.

“Parnell Park isn’t a great place to shoot at the best of times and before the end of the game I moved up 20 yards from the corner to focus on the final whistle.

Just then it began to lash down so I decided to focus on getting a decent action photo. I was just looking for a clean pic with a good background.

“It wasn’t until the next day when the boss Billy (Stickland) said how good it was that I realised.”

Fellow Inpho photographer Donall Farmer was runner-up while William Cherry picked up the Non-Action gong.

See the full list of winners here

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