Gearóid Hegarty has likened his Munster final wonder goal to an out-of-body experience, as the emotions from his red card against Clare erupted.
The 2020 Hurler of the Year’s first half strike ultimately proved the difference in an absorbing encounter, with Limerick grinding out a famous 1-29 to 0-29 victory after extra time.
Hegarty had come into the game under something of a cloud after being sent off in their previous outing against Clare in Ennis. Limerick couldn’t contest the red card as it was for two bookable offences and therefore didn’t result in a suspension, but it was widely agreed that it was a harsh call and would have been rescinded had a hearing been granted.
The 27-year-old outlined how the fallout from the sending off dogged him for a couple of weeks and that it was reflected in his goal celebration after he dinked the ball over Diarmuid Ryan’s head and past Eibhear Quilligan, letting rip in front of FBD Semple Stadium’s town end.
“I don’t normally celebrate as strong as that,” Hegarty admitted. “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.
“It came back to the drawn game in Cusack Park, I was sent off. It was a tough couple of weeks for me mentally.
“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 ok after the game which 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 unfortunately what I believe and what most people believe that I shouldn’t have been sent off that day so, look, it was a mentally draining couple of weeks.”
To such an extent that, come the week of the game, Hegarty effectively took himself out of public circulation.
“It didn’t go away for about two weeks so, the week of the game, I literally just closed myself off completely and didn’t put myself in a position that I’d meet people.
“I just shut myself off really and just tried to go back to my routine of a match-week and just get myself focused and forget about it. I had honestly forgotten about it by the time I left Cusack Park but I wasn’t allowed 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 t so you’ve got to respect that they’re doing that as well. You can’t really be giving out to them so it was a bit of a release.
“That goal was more of a release than I thought at the time.”
There were no red cards in the Munster final but clearly the CCCC felt there should have been with Clare’s Rory Hayes and Peter Duggan subsequently proposed for one-match bans that have since been thrown out.
Hegarty is dubious about punishing players retrospectively, however.
“They should have been punished in the game obviously. The umpires are there to do a job. They probably could have given the ref a bit more help on one or two of the instances but 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.
“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 (referee), in fairness to him, did a really good job.
“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, I suppose maybe they could have given him a small bit more help but it’s a physical game at the best of times, not to mind that Munster final.
“That was as physical as it can possibly get so I do have a little bit of sympathy for the lads (Hayes and Duggan). I don’t think I’m a fan of this going back and banning lads after games. I’m not sure about it."
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