One thing that you can never fault the Barrs for is heart and they showed plenty of that on Sunday.
At times, they were outstanding and looked like they were going to be crowned All-Ireland champions.
But full credit to Athenry they also showed all the heart you need on big occasions and when you are six points down late on it wasn’t looking good for them. But what a response from the Galway team.
They finished the game superbly to deny the Barrs. It takes a great side to score 1-3 in the closing minutes to earn a replay.
You can’t take that away from them, especially when you look at their record in finals. Over the years, they lost seven finals and that thought must have been going through their minds at that point – are we facing another loss?
But on the flip side for the Barrs they can also take a lot from this tie and they showed just how good a side they are. They are also full of heart and you can bet they will be ready the next day – January 3-4 with details to be confirmed – to go again.
For long periods of the game the momentum was very much with the Barrs and it looked like their name was on the cup. They started brilliantly and at half-time they would have been very happy as they were leading by two points having played against the wind.
And it looked like it was going in their favour.
With 45 minutes gone, they were still in control as they lead by 0-12 to 0-9 and then they extended that even further to lead by 0-15 to 0-9 and it looked all over. But then one bit of play can switch the momentum so fast and that’s what happened on Sunday.
A shot from Therese Donohue came back off the crossbar and it could have gone anywhere. Had it snuck over the bar the Barrs would have been champions, but instead they conceded a goal.
Anna Jordan was the fastest to react to the breaking ball and suddenly all the momentum was with Athenry.
Sorcha McCartan of St Finbarr’s converts a free at Croke Park. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
They had to build on that and when Sabina Rabbitte pointed a free from out near the sideline that six-point lead was now suddenly down to two.
Barrs’ backline was now under massive pressure and when Rabbitte scored from a 45 it looked inevitable that they were going to get an equaliser.
Full credit to Kayla Madden who kept a cool head to slot over to see them must do it all again.
While the Barrs could argue that luck was possibly on their side in a few games to reach the final, then in the final minutes in Croke Park, it deserted them.
With a little bit of luck that ball could have gone over the bar or the danger cleared and it would have been a different story.