Special award replaces Hayes' lost mementos

GALWAY manager Conor Hayes received a sweet surprise yesterday as Vodafone, sponsors of the Allstars, presented him with a plaque to commemorate the three awards he won during his career.

Hayes lost most of the mementos from his illustrious playing days following a tragic fire in his mother's house last August.

"I am the only Galway man to get three Allstars in one year, even if it happened 15 years after I retired," he joked.

"Last August, I did lose all my medals, trophies and a lot of jerseys from different matches when my mother's house tragically caught fire. You often wonder why you kept all those old things, but they became most valuable when I realised I couldn't get them back. That is when you realise what you will miss."

Hayes watched his star player, Eugene Cloonan, pick up the Vodafone player of the month award for March, following his scoring exhibition of 3-7 against Waterford during the month. The talented Wexford forward Mattie Forde picked up the footballing accolade, after his show against the Galway footballers in Tuam.

Following another victory last Sunday, where Cloonan again bagged a goal, Galway seem to be motoring nicely and are within one more win of a league final. Next Sunday's encounter with Tipperary will excite many neutrals, but Cloonan downplayed the tie. Galway hurlers, after all, have a monopoly on false dawns at this stage of the spring.

"Things are going well, we have a lot of forwards going well at the minute. Damien Hayes is flying beside me, Fergal Moore is doing well, Alan Kerins is coming into his own. Against Cork, we were able to get the goals at the right time, which is something I hope we can carry forward."

Cloonan's blistering form is one reason why Galway can't be discounted. Injury meant he only played six minutes of championship last year.

"It is important for teams to get wins over the top teams like Kilkenny. That breeds confidence, but there are five or six teams who are at the top in the game at the moment and anyone of them could win it."

Many Galway supporters will be watching how the proposals to end Galway's hurling isolation are dealt with at the weekend Congress.

"It is hard to know which way it is going to go," Cloonan says. "I don't know much about it to be honest and we don't have a say in it anyway."

Galway's isolation is often used to excuse their patchy championship performances in the past couple of years, and it is one reason why Cloonan wants to play in a league final.

"The timing of the league final doesn't suit some teams, but it would be great for us as we have to wait so long to play in the championship. We definitely want to get there. We have a young panel anyway, I think the average age is around 23 so a league final would be a great experience."