There was a welcome sight on the sideline during Kildimo-Pallaskenry’s Limerick SHC defeat by Mungret-St Paul’s on Friday. Limerick star Kyle Hayes was seen cheering on his clubmates weeks after he suffered a horror injury in their earlier defeat by Newcastle West.

Play was halted for around five minutes during that clash in Rathkeale, with Hayes having to be helped from the field with what appeared to be a back or neck injury. He was later admitted to hospital.

Hayes was wearing a neck brace on Friday he backed his teammates, who eventually went down to a 1-18 to 0-10 victory.

One supporter told the Limerick Leader that Hayes also remained on the sideline during the game when he suffered the injury: “He’s made of tough stuff, he got back on his feet and watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines. 

“It was only that evening he went to hospital. Hopefully he’ll be back in action before too long as nobody wants to see a player of his calibre out of action with a nasty injury.”