Dual master Hayes has Barrs teammates in awe — but his eye for goal is no surprise
Brian Hayes of St Finbarr's celebrates
Painting by numbers. Brian Hayes’ canvas stands apart. No extensive colour palette has been employed. Green and white, red and blue.
As we totted in yesterday’s newspaper, Brian Hayes’ 2025 goal count across club, county, and both codes stands at 17.
Even in isolation, that green flag number is impressive. No harm either, though, to paint around it and offer context.
His 10 goals for the Cork hurlers - five in League, five more in championship - came off 14 starts. On local duty for the Barrs, there were four majors - two in hurling, two more in football - off six county championship starts.
Those local numbers would no doubt have been higher but for recurring injuries that kept him out of four group games across hurling and football.
Add in Sunday’s Munster club semi-final hat-trick - his second of the year - and Hayes is at 17 goals off 22 starts.
Add in the white flags from those 22 starts, plus a 23rd appearance off the bench, and he’s at 17-29 - 5-9 of that from six club football starts - for a 2025 season that still has at least one more outing to come.
When Barrs centre-back Ciarán Doolan was informed in the long tunnel underneath the South Stand early on Sunday evening that Hayes had finished the Munster semi-final with 3-3 from play, his initial response of admiration and almost disbelief carried an expletive, and therefore cannot be rehashed here.
His remarks thereafter carried the appreciation felt by all in blue that Hayes, and the football form he’s showing after spending the first seven months of the year with a hurley in hand, is part of their corner.
“He was class. And he'll probably tell you that it's all us outside, giving him the ball. But you have to have composure to put it away as well. He's flying.”
Doolan was right, Hayes’ first instinct was to bat away hat-trick talk after he was asked how the football green flags compared to the three in hurling that he managed against Clare in the National League back in springtime.
“It's a bit better, to be fair, because it's not something that I'd expect going into a football match. I suppose it's not really a hat-trick to be writing home about with the first goal,” said 24-year-old Hayes.
Fortuitous was his opener, but even leaving aside the finish, there was much to applaud in how after winning a Barrs restart over on the North Stand side, he continued his run to collect the final pass.
“That's something you're always trying to do is follow the pass. I gave the ball up the line and just followed in. I saw Ian [Maguire] and he's probably one of the best fellas to lay off a ball to you. I was obviously going for a point but I'll take the goal definitely when it comes.”
Goals two and three arrived during Hayes’ deployment inside. Evidence, argued the hurler of the year nominee, of the licence offered by management to change stations mid-game.
“The lads are great that way, giving us that bit of flexibility. I think the new rules do that anyway. It's great to have the likes of Ian and even Luke [Hannigan] to swap in and out with when necessary. Definitely it's something I enjoy and something we've worked on, so I'll keep it going, hopefully.”
Early in 2022, the Barrs brought Kilcoo to extra-time in the All-Ireland semi-final. The Down men went on to lift the Andy Merrigan Cup two weeks later. That is the level to which the Barrs were operating at.
Whatever the local expectation was of the ensuing winters housing similar journeys, it has taken them almost four years to return to the Munster final and within reach of the All-Ireland conversation.
“Steven [Sherlock] was only talking to us during the week; they are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Obviously with the Munster final, there's only eight teams left in the whole thing,” Hayes continued.
“If you told us we’d be going up to play Kilcoo at the start of 2021, we wouldn't have believed you that we'd get to extra-time with them. Then when it comes, you're devastated to lose out by a kick of a ball. I'm sure this year will be no different.”
This latest journey is not being traveled alone. The club’s flagship camogie side were crowned Munster champions 24 hours before the lads set up a Munster final date with Dingle and will this Saturday head to Ashbourne for a first ever All-Ireland semi-final appearance against Loughgiel Shamrocks (2pm start).
“We took huge inspiration from it,” said Doolan of the Barrs women edging De La Salle at the death.
“There's elderly people at the club now who have something to look forward to every weekend. I think that's what a club's about.
“It's also great for the kids. When I was growing up, the Barrs probably weren't too successful. So, we really had nothing to look [up] to. But seeing all the younger fellas there, they have us and the camogie to look to, it must be good. Hopefully we can bring another Cup back to them.”
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