TWO Limerick players are vying for favouritism to be crowned Hurler of the Year ahead of their All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny on Sunday.
John Kiely’s men are aiming to get their hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the third consecutive season and are hot favourites at 2/5 with BoyleSports to overcome the Cats on Sunday.
The Player of the Year betting is a much closer contest with star players Aaron Gillane and Diarmaid Byrnes separated by the narrowest margins at 7/2 and 4/1 respectively.
Kyle Hayes has been backed into 10/1 from 14/1 having been named man of the match in the semi-final victory over Galway.
Kilkenny’s semi-final man of the match TJ Reid has been backed into 13/2 from 10/1 with BoyleSports, but the most likely candidate from the underdogs is 6/1 shot Adrian Mullen, who has notched the second highest tally from open play in the championship campaign.
Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Limerick are still being backed at odds-on prices, so it’s no surprise that two of their main men are fighting it out for Hurler of the Year, although we can barely separate Aaron Gillane and Diarmaid Byrnes in that battle at this stage.
“TJ Reid was backed into 13/2 from 10/1 following Kilkenny’s semi-final win over Clare, but Adrian Mullen’s contribution to the scoreboard hasn’t gone unnoticed and he’s the leading contender for the Cats.”
