Maybe it was Tom Morrissey’s incredible catch in the build-up, maybe it was the sumptuous flick over Diarmuid Ryan’s head before striking or maybe it was just the fact that Limerick were three points down in a Munster final.
Whatever the reason, Gearóid Hegarty celebrated his first-half goal against Clare like it meant a whole lot more than just three points.
“I don’t normally, I suppose, celebrate as strongly as that,” admitted the former Hurler of the Year whose emotion came bursting out in a leap and punch of the air in front of the packed terrace.
“Normally you have a little fist-pump maybe or a finger-wag and run back out to your position but it was like an out-of-body experience, I was jumping up in the air like a madman. I didn’t even realise what I was doing.”
There was another factor at play for Hegarty, of course. Three weeks earlier he’d been sent off against Clare in the round-robin game in Ennis. For most, it was a harsh dismissal but Hegarty, technically unable to appeal the double booking, had to suck it up and move on.
“That was a tough couple of weeks for me mentally,” he said.
“It was mentally draining. Everyone I met . . . .I’m a schoolteacher so everyone I met in the school, whether it be the students or the staff or people out on the street, going to training, if I’m inside in town having a coffee, whatever it is, the amount of people . . . .even my phone, my phone blew up after the game with the amount of people texting me and ringing me just to wish me well and make sure that I was okay after the game when, literally, by the time I had left Cusack Park on the Sunday, I had forgotten about it completely.
“I just wanted to move on and focus on the Munster final because I was happy enough that we had got to a Munster final and you’re getting a chance against the same team so quickly to go out and make right what I believe, and most people believe, that I shouldn’t have been sent off that day. So, look, it was a mentally draining couple of weeks.
“I thought it might be rough for a couple of days after it with people chatting to me about it but it didn’t go away.
“I had honestly forgotten about it by the time I left Cusack Park but I wasn’t allowed to forget about it I suppose. And again, people only mean well, they’re coming up to wish you well and make sure you’re fine and stuff so you’ve got to respect that. You can’t be giving out to them so it [the goal] was a bit of a release. It was more of a release than I thought at the time.”
In the broader scheme of things, all’s well that ends well, from Hegarty’s perspective at least. Limerick remain Munster champions and march on to the All-Ireland semi-finals in fine fettle.
Still, it was drama he could have done without and he felt sorry for Clare’s Rory Hayes and Peter Duggan who were hit with retrospective sanctions for incidents in that same Munster final. On Wednesday night, the Banner duo’s appeals were successful and the proposed suspensions were thrown out on technical grounds.
“I’m not sure am I a fan of going back, poring over every second of a game in slow motion and banning lads because of it,” said Hegarty. “Look, if you were to go back over a game and look at everything from all different angles, you’d have a lot of people getting banned, I’ll tell you that.
“Hurling is a physical game. I thought John Keenan, in fairness to him, did a really good job as referee. I think he got a little bit of criticism after the match because of the few instances but, like, it’s such a fast-paced game, you can’t see everything.
“He has lads there to help him, maybe they could have given him a small bit more help but it’s a physical game at the best of times, never mind the fact it was a Munster final. That was as physical as it can possibly get so I do have a little bit of sympathy for the lads. I don’t think I’m a fan of this going back and banning lads after games. I’m not sure about it.”
Limerick will be back in action on Sunday fortnight against a quarter-final winner. They could have reigning Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch available for that one after his lengthy layoff due to hamstring trouble.
“As far as I know, he knew the Munster final was unrealistic for him and it was always later on in the championship he was looking at but I think all is going to plan anyway,” said Hegarty.
Gearóid Hegarty was speaking at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy’s ‘State of Play’ campaign to promote allyship and inclusion in team sports
