Inverness after impressing in his debut season with the club, as his contract was expiring. However, he went on to sign a new two-year deal. On 11 September 2010, he scored the opening goal in an SPL match against Rangers with a stunning long-range strike. Hayes left Inverness after the 2011–12 season. He rejected their offer of a new one-year contract. Aberdeen Aberdeen claimed a deal had been struck with Hayes on 30 May 2012. Almost a month later, Hayes finally put pen to paper, signing a two-year contract with the Dons. Hayes went on to make his competitive debut for Aberdeen, in an opening day 1–0 defeat away to SPL champions Celtic. The following weekend, Hayes made his home debut against newly promoted side Ross County in a game which finished 0–0. He scored his first goal in Aberdeen colours in a testimonial for Neil Simpson against Manchester United. The midfielder showed good perseverance, pinching the ball off of Paul Scholes in the penalty box, before beating David de Gea with a composed finish. Hayes scored his first competitive goal for the Dons' in a 2–1 victory away to St Johnstone. He pounced on a mistake by goalkeeper Alan Mannus and defender Frazer Wright, leaving Hayes with the easy task of firing into the empty net, before celebrating in front of the travelling Aberdeen support. On 15 September, he provided an assist for Cammy Smith to equalise against his old club, Inverness, in the dying minutes. The game finished 1–1. On 3 August 2013, Hayes opened the scoring in the first match of the new season against Kilmarnock. This goal gave Hayes the honour of scoring the first ever goal in the new Scottish Premiership. Hayes agreed a contract extension in November 2013 that would keep him at Aberdeen until the summer of 2016. In a 4–0 win over St Johnstone in the League Cup semi-final at Tynecastle, Hayes scored twice to help send the Dons into their first major cup final for 14 years. A poor goal kick by Steve Banks allowed Adam Rooney to square the ball across the six-yard box for Hayes to knock into the net. Clever footwork by the winger late in the second half led to a fine finish just inside the 18-yard box to wrap up the match and send Aberdeen through to the final. Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster's run of clean