Conor Hayes

Conor Hayes (born 11 May 1958) is an Irish former hurler who played as a full-back at senior level for the Galway county team.

Born in Kiltormer, County Galway, Hayes first played competitive hurling in his youth.

He made his first impression on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty he joined the Galway under-21 team.

Hayes joined the Kiltormer senior team as a non-playing sub in 1976, before making his championship debut the following year.

He won his first championship medal that year following a 3–10 to 3–8 defeat of Athenry.

He won a Fitzgibbon Cup with University College Galway in 1977.

Hayes first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway under-21 hurling team that reached the All-Ireland decider in 1978.

Tipperary provided the opposition on that occasion, however, the game ended in a draw.

At the second time of asking Galway emerged victorious by 3–15 to 2–8 and Hayes collected an All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship medal.

He made his senior debut during the 1979 championship.

Hayes went on to play a key role for Galway for over a decade, and won three All-Ireland medals and two National Hurling League medals.

A two-time All-Ireland-winning captain, Hayes was an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions.

As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team for almost a decade, Hayes won four Railway Cup medal.

At club level he is a one-time All-Ireland medallist with Kiltormer.

In addition to this he also won two Connacht medals and three championship medals.

Hayes also lined out with Glen Rovers.

Throughout his career Hayes made 23 championship appearances for Galway.

In 1979 Hayes was appointed captain of the Galway under-21 team.

That year his side qualified for the All-Ireland final once again and, for the second consecutive year, Tipperary were the opponents.

On this occasion Tipperary made no mistake and defeated Hayes's team by 2–12 to 1–9.

Hayes made his senior championship debut with Galway on 1 July 1979 in a 1–23 to 3–10 defeat of Laois.

Galway later shocked four-in-a-row hopefuls Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final and qualified for an All-Ireland final showdown with Kilkenny.

In one of the worst All-Ireland finals of the decade, Galway goalkeeper Séamus Shinnors had an absolute nightmare of a game.

A 70-yards free by Liam "Chunky" O'Brien after just four minutes dipped, hit off Shinnors and ended up in the Galway net.

Galway fought back and went two points up twelve minutes into the second half, however, they failed to score for the rest of the game.

Four minutes before the end of the game another long-range free for Kilkenny ended up in the net behind Shinnors.

It was a score which summed up the day for Hayes's side as Kilkenny went on to win by 2–12 to 1–8.

In 1982 Hayes missed out on Kiltormer's next championship success, as he spent the year playing with Glen Rovers in Cork.

His retirement came following the conclusion of the 1990 championship.

Hayes is widely regarded as one of Galway's greatest-ever club and inter-county hurlers.

He has often been voted onto teams made up of the sport's greats, including at full-back on the Galway Hurling Team of the Millennium and on the All-Ireland Club Hurling Silver Jubilee Team.

In retirement from playing, Hayes became involved in team management and coaching.

During a four-year term as manager of the Galway senior hurlers, he guided the team to an All-Ireland final appearance.

Hayes was back with Kiltormer by 1990 when the club reached the club decider once again.

An 0–18 to 2–7 defeat of Turloughmore gave him his second championship medal.

He later won his first Connacht medal following a 5–11 to 0–6 trouncing of Oran.

Kiltormer retained their Galway title in 1991, with Hayes winning a third and final championship medal following a 3–9 to 0–15 defeat of Athenry.

He later added a second Connacht medal to his collection following a 2–9 to 1–6 defeat of Four Roads.

On 29 March 1992 Hayes lined out with Kiltormer against Birr in the All-Ireland final.

A 0–15 to 1–8 victory gave him an All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship medal.