*Fred Hegarty celebrates with Ronan Kilroy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
CLARE practiced penalties in advance of their dramatic Munster U20 final victory and it certainly paid off, wing forward Fred Hegarty maintained.
Coverage in association with McKeoghs Hardware, Ballina-Killaloe
Fred was unerring when it came to dispatching penalties to the net, he bagged two during the shootout including one in sudden death and one in normal time on fifty four minutes after Thomas O’Connor was fouled.
To score three penalties in one game is an achievement but it was capped off for the TUS student by winning a first Munster U20 medal. On top of this, he finished the evening with a personal tally of 1-14.
Whatever it took, Clare were willing to do it to leave the Gaelic Grounds with silverware, Hegarty outlined. “We did a bit of practice during the week and Terence in fairness to him had told us we were going to be going all the way with them and that we could beat them in normal time, extra time or penalties if it went the whole way and we had laser sharp focus for the penalties and we practiced all week, there was seven or eight lads hitting them and we were ready for it, Mark Sheedy was unbelievable inside in the goals, the three penalties he saved I thought they were all going into the net, they were terrific saves”.
He added, “Tipp are a fantastic team, they have won the last two Munster U20 championships, Oisin O’Donoghue was there for two of them, Jamie Ormonde has been there for two of them, they have quality players, Robbie Ryan, Cormac Fitz, they are a great outfit and we knew it would be a tough game, we’re over the moon to get over the line. We were not leaving here without the Munster title, Terence has been here five years, nine of us have been here for three years, we’re delighted to come over that hump”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the Inagh/Kilnamona clubman admitted the instructions of the Tipperary sideline encouraged him to stick with the same side for his third penalty as he struck it to the bottom left corner once again. “For the third one they were shouting from the sideline ‘he’ll go the same side’ and the goalie Paddy McCormack was pointing to the same side so I thought it was too obvious to change sides so I stuck with it, I was used to hitting that side so I said I stay going”.
There was more determination within the Clare ranks this year following the upset of losing last year’s provincial decider, the Kilnamona attacker outlined. “Tipperary had an excellent team, we tried our best, there was a black card which we are not using as an excuse, this year we came with the determination and confidence that we were going to do it, that showed. In the first half, they had the breeze and were the better team but for all the other periods I thought we were dominant and maybe unlucky not to win it in normal time or extra time”.
