Jimmy Barry-Murphy: Brian Hayes was awesome, he'd be on any inter-county panel

Jimmy Barry-Murphy had nothing but praise for Brian Hayes after he scored three goals in St Finbarr’s impressive win over Éire Óg of Ennis.

The Togher outfit won on a scoreline of 3-20 to 0-14 in the AIB Munster Club SFC semi-final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon.

Hayes was without doubt the star man with the Cork senior hurler scoring 3-3, all from play.

“Brian was awesome, he’s a fabulous footballer as well as a hurler,” Barry-Murphy said post-match.

“He'd be on any inter-county panel. We'll never see a dual player again in the inter-county scene. That's just the way it is. I was speaking about that recently, I think it's a pity. It won't happen ever again.

“Brian’s a very, very talented lad. It goes without saying that the Cork footballers would have him on their panel.” 

It did take some time for St Finbarr’s to click against Éire Óg of Ennis. Once they did, they were always likely winners. A 15-point win was just about right even though it could have been more.

“We weren't sure what to expect today, they've been hurling as well, a lot of dual players, so it is tough going for them,” the Cork GAA legend says.

“We were very, very happy to have played some good football. We spoke last weekend about the conditions in Clonmel, it was obviously a lot different here today. You could see the lads expressed themselves a bit more.

“Our guys kicked some brilliant scores and their movement was quite good. I think from our perspective, up five points at half-time, it was a very, very good performance in that first half.

To come back out playing with the wind, our lads used the ball well and we moved the ball at pace.

“We have some very athletic players and I thought that some of the goal chances we created were excellent.” 

GLORY

St Finbarr’s are back in the Munster final looking to win the competition for a sixth time. The last time they competed in the provincial championship, they claimed glory, back in the 2021/22 campaign.

They will meet a strong Dingle side in the final with the Kerry outfit no doubt going in as favourites in a fortnight.

We know we're going to face a huge task with Dingle, but it's great to be in the Munster final.

“The reality in Cork is that you were facing Castlehaven, who have been a superb team for the last couple of years, and Nemo, and Clonakilty, all superb teams.

“So it's very hard to get out of Cork and when you do, you're facing the best in Kerry now: Dingle. That's going to be a big task for us, we know that. 

"Kilcoo a few years ago in Portlaoise, we were beaten in extra-time, that's the standard you're facing when you go into these competitions and the time of year makes it tougher as well.

“But the lads are loving it and they're driving it on themselves."