“We know how to finish the game” | Gearóid Hegarty speaks after Clare Man of the Match display

It was Hegarty who landed the Man of the Match crown, hitting three points while being instrumental in most of his side’s good play.

Gearóid Hegarty says that his Limerick teammates “didn’t panic” against Clare in Cusack Park on Sunday, as they held their nerve to complete a comeback that gave them an opening round Munster Championship victory.

The St. Pat’s man echoed the thoughts of his manager John Kiely, with the pair full of praise for the massive impact made by Limerick’s substitutes.

Donnacha Ó Dálaigh, Sean Finn, Adam English and Conor Boylan all came in to make significant contributions, though it was Hegarty who landed the Man of the Match crown, hitting three points while being instrumental in most of his side’s good play.

Clare went into the half-time interval with a five point advantage on Sunday, but Hegarty said that his teammates “didn’t panic” and that they felt they were “actually playing well”.

“I suppose we’ve been in that position loads over the years to be honest, it’s not the position you want to be in obviously. You knew at half-time, it’s a cliche nowadays but we knew it was 75, 80 minutes of hurling so we knew we had plenty of time. At half-time we didn’t panic, we felt we were actually playing well at half-time, it probably just didn’t reflect on the scoreboard, but we were happy enough at half-time to an extent. We knew if we kept going the way we were in the first half into the second half, it’s a long, long time 40 minutes in the second half. We have so much confidence in the lads coming off the bench to finish the game, we just kept plucking away and that’s what you have to do!”

Hegarty’s confidence in those substitutes is matched by his manager, Kiely describing the introductions of Ó Dálaigh, English and Boylan as “pivotal.”

Ó Dálaigh marked his championship debut with 1-1, his goal the result of a nice link-up with Hegarty, and enough to send Limerick one point ahead as the clock ticked down.

The substitute played the ball along the ground to Hegarty, who returned it first time with a one-handed flick for the Monaleen man to finish past Clare’s Eibhear Quilligan.

English was a livewire, an injection of energy into a game that was seeing players wilting on both sides. Hegarty stressed that when players get tired, “you just have to stick at it,” and that is something this Limerick side have done time and time again.

“You know the longer the game goes on breaks are going to happen, fellas are going to get tired. That’s the way the game goes you just have to stick at it, you can’t panic, we didn’t panic, as I said we’ve been there loads of times over the years, we know coming down the stretch if we’re there or thereabouts we know how to finish the game so we were confident the whole way.”

Next up for Limerick is a showdown with Tipperary on Sunday. Hegarty failed to score when the sides locked horns in last year’s Munster Championship, but three points against the Banner will do his confidence the world of good as he sets his sights on Liam Cahill’s men.

The 2020 Hurler of the Year was involved in Limerick’s best sequences of play on Sunday, and will be needed again if Kiely’s men are to get over the line against the Premier.

The Limerick boss has stressed that their win over Clare is “only two points on the board” and that they “know what is coming next Sunday”.

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