LIMERICK’S GEARÓID HEGARTY won the coveted Man of the Match award for the 2022 All-Ireland hurling final, winning the award on The Sunday Game ahead of team-mates and fellow nominees Kyle Hayes and Diarmuid Byrnes.
Hegarty dazzled in a classic final against Kilkenny, scoring 1-5, the highlight a stunning goal that he rifled into the top corner of Eoin Murphy’s goal in the early stages of the game.
Sunday Game pundit Donal Og Cusack saluted a “performance for the ages.”
I feel incredibly honoured to be up here”, Hegarty said on the Sunday Game when accepting the award. “I am genuinely accepting it on behalf of the other 35 men sitting here tonight. There are 36 of us that kill each other on a Tuesday, Friday and Sunday for the whole year, for the last seven and a half months. It’s a team effort.”
It’s the second time Hegarty has scooped the award, winning it after the 2020 final, too.