John Kiely praises Gearoid Hegarty’s All-Ireland final performance and discusses “hugely disappointing” injury to Cian Lynch

For the first time under John Kiely, Limerick were without Cian Lynch for a trip to Croke Park.

From the ecstasy of two All-Ireland’s on the bounce as well as a Hurler of the Year award for the mantelpiece, Cian Lynch’s luck has taken a sour turn in the last six months.

The Patrickswell man had recently returned to the fold after a ten week lay-off, which would have been a more than welcomed addition to the final panel to face Kilkenny.

However, a week prior to the final, Lynch suffered a ‘freak training injury’ which would rule him out for Limerick’s third All-Ireland Final in as many years.

Although on paper this would be a massive loss to Kiely’s side, the Limerick manager was determined to prove that his side had enough in the tank to win without their vice-captain as they proved on Sunday.

Reflecting on his absence, the Galbally man spoke of his disappointment to see the reigning HOTY miss out.

“It’s hugely disappointing for him to have the season he’s had. He was sent off in the Fitzgibbon Cup Final, tears his hamstring badly, misses ten weeks, comes back gets himself back in a position to play in an All Ireland final after having the year he had and for him to experience an absolute freak injury in training seven days out, you’re not going to be racing down the road to the bookies when you have that kind of luck for yourself.

“It was heartbreaking for him, everyone was so disappointed for him. But being the man he was, he committed to everything during the week and the boys committed to making sure they weren’t going to let him be the reason that people might say why you might’ve lost that final.”

And Kiely was successful in proving the doubters wrong as Limerick looked to his other star players to get the job done. This included Man of the Match Gearoid Hegarty, who shot 1-5, with his goal being one of the finest you’ll see in a game of such calibre.

Kiely praised the 2020 Hurler of the Year for his outstanding showing and his response to a sub-par performance in the semi-final against Galway.

“Gearoid would’ve been one of the guys that was disappointed with his performance in the semi-final, he’d be the first to put up his hand and say that and he was very honest in his work during the course of the last two weeks, really, really honest and he led the charge. He focused in on what he could do today and I think that reflected his performance today.”

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Accept YouTube Content

For Limerick and co, there will be huge confidence taken in the fact that the three-in-a-row was completed with a huge injury list throughout the season as they hope for a clean bill of health when they return to action in January.