It was Saturday, November 1, a dark, wet and weary night, the floodlights being switched off as Hayes emerged, as promised, to discuss his performance and Rosscarbery’s triumph. He has always been one of the media-conscious players on Leeside, be it at club or inter-county level. Hayes is comfortable discussing the code with a dictaphone or mic before him.

What we expected was a character content with a personal haul of 2-3 including 2-2 in open play from his team’s total of 3-10.

Michéal ‘Haulie’ O’Sullivan’s men had savaged Nemo Rangers in what is known as the Kelleher Shield final by 10 points yet, Hayes sauntered over a jaded soul.

It was an unusual demeanour for a man that had just mesmerised the standard-bearers of Gaelic football in the county.

A little context, though.

Thirteen days previous, Hayes stood on the turf at Páirc Uí Chaoimh after the final whistle had been blown in the Cork SFC final and could be seen staring blankly into space.

The scoreboard at the old ground read: Ballincollig 1-13, Carbery Rangers 1-10.

Following short-lived, on-field celebrations at Páirc Uí Rinn it had clearly hit Hayes that league silverware was not really cutting the mustard at the time.

Not that he was being dismissive in any way of winning the secondary title in Cork, but it represented scant satisfaction in contrast to what might have been 13 days earlier.

Hayes explained how taxing the campaign had been for him.

“At half-time, I said to myself: ‘There’s only a half-hour left in the season, I might as well put it in’,” Hayes revealed on the night, in an untypically unenthusiastic manner. “I’m seriously, seriously shattered at this point though, physically and mentally.

“It’s been a really long season.”

Subsequently, Hayes went into greater detail behind his evident fatigue.

However, you didn’t need to be the sharpest tool in the box to know where he was going with the conversation.

“The first week after losing the county final, you’re just away with the lads trying to forget things.

“The second week, this week, leading up to this game has actually been worse though. You’re back at work and everybody is bringing up the loss again and again.

“You don’t mean to sound like you don’t appreciate the support but you’re there trying to park it and it’s tough.

“In saying that, sport is sport, you have highs and lows, more lows than highs, actually.

“That was the case this year in terms of the championships with Ross and Cork but you stick together, come back in the new year, and go again.

“Obviously, the Kelleher Shield isn’t the main prize but it’s good to end the year positively.

“If we had lost another final after being in a winning position it wouldn’t have been good for us at all heading into 2015.

“Now, though, I plan to totally chill out for at least a month.

“It’s been a 12-month season, all go and now it’s time to really switch off. It’s overdue, I can tell you,” he added.

That encounter was the first thing to spring to mind as I saw Hayes rejoice in Carbery Rangers’ Cork SFC success on Sunday at the same venue.

The memory of such a wretched night was vivid.

Hayes’ quest for a county winner’s medal was, eventually, successful. And not before time for him and his club.

Their relentlessness in response to having the door shut in their faces is probably the most admirable element of their capacity to finally reach the summit.

Hayes may have been acutely dejected in 2014 however, he was Rosscarbery’s joint-top scorer against Ballincollig on Sunday hitting 0-5 including three points in open play. Redemption.

Sharing the joint-top scorer spot was man of the match John O’Rourke. He fired five points from play, as you do in a county final.

It’s been illustrated here previously O’Rourke should be the fulcrum of Cork’s attack.

Admittedly, his personal form up until Sunday was far from his best. Yet, anybody that questioned his ability to perform on the major occasions would have been hard to find on Monday morning.

Interestingly, O’Rourke intimated how he felt Carbery Rangers were not psychologically prepared to claim the Andy Scannell Cup prior to this term.

“I reckon we weren’t ready to go any further than we did at that time,” said O’Rourke. “We were definitely off the pace in 2011 and 2012 against Castlehaven, who were that bit cuter and more experienced.

“They were more experienced on the line, too, but I think we’re building that up slowly, as well.

“There’s good underage at the moment and we’re very strong so the future looks promising.”

The words of a mature operator.

O’Rourke’s found cementing a starting spot on the inter-county unit a trickier exercise than should be the case for a player of his qualities, however.

His energy levels are off the charts and he has the capacity to dictate match-tempos.

Was a shortage of confidence an issue for O’Rourke? Possibly, but then it’s difficult to be particularly confident when you are drifting in and out of the team.

Peadar Healy needs to trust O’Rourke to take on the responsibility of acting as the Leesiders’ go-to in-game roamer.

Luckily for Carbery Rangers, manager Ronan McCarthy clearly understands O’Rourke is the type of individual that responds in-kind to having an arm placed around his shoulder.

Sometimes it’s as simple as the player being aware of the belief you have in him or her.

After all, management, at any level, isn’t rocket science provided you can identify the personalities of the people you are tasked with improving as players.

McCarthy’s name will surely feature again among the shortlist of potential Cork managers after Healy’s tenure ends, too.

He’s a fantastic coach and McCarthy has gained further kudos with this achievement.