Hegarty and Gunning named as the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Semi-Final/Final Players of the Match

James Hegarty and Eoghan Gunning have been named as the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Semi-Final/Final Players of the Match.
Hegarty received the gong after his side’s 0-23 to 0-15 win over Kilkenny in the Electric Ireland All Ireland semi-final.
Clare advanced to a first All-Ireland final since 2010 as they picked apart a Kilkenny side reduced to 14 players for the final 52 minutes.
The Munster champions only conceded five points in the second half with centre-back Hegarty helping to provide the platform for this win with a tigerish display.
The Inagh-Kilnamona man finished as top scorer for Brian O’Connell’s charges after firing over six points, four from frees, one from a ’65 while the other came from open play.
Hegarty grabbed critical scores in this contest including an inspirational effort that helped to stop Kilkenny’s early second-half momentum after the Cats had shot two points without reply.
His score proved the catalyst for Clare grabbing 12 of the final 15 points of the contest.

Meanwhile, captain Gunning was best on show in the decider as Clare secured a historic 2-22 to 4-11 victory over Galway.
Despite the Clare defence shipping four goals, they laid the platform for this win with Galway grabbing two late majors to give themselves brief hopes of a revival.
Despite the loss of full-back Ronan Keane through injury at halftime, Gunning led from the front as he produced a superb display against Galway prodigy Aaron Niland.
Niland had contributed 45 per cent of Galway’s overall tally before the decider but Gunning restricted the Clarinbridge marksman to just two points from play with the rest of his eight-point tally coming from the placed ball.
Galway were utterly dominant in Leinster this year, winning all their games by double figures. When Jason Rabbitte pulled a ball from the sky and used his strength to flick it to the net in the second minute, the early signs were there that another similar result might be in store.
However, Gunning and co in defence had other ideas as they proved stubborn in defence while 12 players troubled the scoreboard down the other end.
Galway battled hard and managed to momentarily threaten a come from behind win. However, Gunning epitomised the spirit of the Clare side as he produced a heroic late block from a goal-bound effort after returning to the field following a blood substitution.
The Broadford man showcased the tenacity that saw this Clare side secure the Irish Press Cup for the first time since 1997 with hopes high that many of this group will progress and enjoy further success with the county.