FROM PRODUCTION LINE TO FRONT LINE
KYLE HAYES is one of the latest products off Limerick’s conveyor belt of talent as their hopes of ending a 45-year AllIreland famine increase. But if two Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland Under 21 titles in the past three years are adding to the pressure, it is not being felt by Hayes or the other players bidding for glory for the Treaty County. He was only 18 when he made his senior Championship debut last summer against Clare — scoring 1-1 from fullforward as Limerick went down by 3-17 to 2-16 — and while he appreciates the two most recent U21 victories will fuel expectation, it’s not something which is weighing down the players. ‘It’s constantly adding to it but as players you don’t listen to outside influences or anything like that,’ he said. ‘You get on with your own game. I was part of the only crop of (recent) Limerick minors not to win something but it was very nice to win the U21 All-Ireland, to finish the year on a winning note,’ added Hayes, who was speaking at the launch of the Bord Gáis Energy U21 championship in Tipperary this week. Hayes made his debut against Wexford in the League and was then handed his Championship debut by John Kiely last June as the excellent work at underage level continues to produce promising talent. The Kildimo-Pallaskenry clubman said that a lot of work has gone into developing strong teams in Limerick. ‘There’s an academy there — Cian Lynch’s age group was the very start of it — but it’s really about hard work being put in. ‘It’s all done in a professional manner, so there’s not much of a change from senior to Under 21 to underage, from 14 up it’s all regulated and planned out. ‘You’re prepared from the age of 14 to play senior, obviously the training schedules and so on change, but basically it’s what you do the whole time.’ Limerick put their Munster and All-Ireland titles on the line next Monday evening in a mouth-watering clash in Cusack Park in Ennis against Clare.