O'Sullivan: All are in good form and ready to go

Tomorrow, St Finbarr’s senior camogie team will be hoping to lift their second cup of the season at FBD Semple Stadium.

They take on Athenry in the replay of the AIB All-Ireland senior club camogie championship final, throw-in 5.15pm.

It was a happy place for the Togher side several weeks ago when they won their first-ever Munster title there, and they will be hoping to add the All-Ireland crown tomorrow.

In the drawn encounter at Croke Park before Christmas, they conceded 1-3 late on to see it end level, and that surging finish will give their opponents massive confidence ahead of the replay.

On the flip side, when it looked like they could have lost, the Barrs showed all their fighting spirit as they defended superbly to ensure they got another chance.

Speaking after the drawn game Barrs manager, Brian O’Sullivan’s immediate thoughts were they were still in the game, still in with a chance of winning, and that hasn’t changed in the meantime.

“So after the last game we’re still alive, still in the game,” said O’Sullivan.

“We had to regroup quickly and think about the plan, and look forward to the three weeks leading into the replay. So everyone’s in good spirits, and that’s where we want to be.

“They’re going to have gotten a great lift after that come back I would imagine, but we just need to focus on ourselves and just prepare as best as we can.

“We might tweak one or two things, nothing major, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. So we’ll stick with what we’ve done for most of the year and have to work hard in the replay.”

Both sides will have learned a lot about each other in the drawn game, as they have never met before in the championship.

“You pick up a few nuggets of information in a couple of areas that we need to improve on. A couple of lessons learned around our shape and stuff like that. We hadn’t played them before, we have done a bit of background work on them, as they would have on us.

“But it’s different when you see them up front, and like that, they’re probably in the same boat as us. They probably feel that they know a bit more about us.”

O’Sullivan was delighted to see the replay being staged in a stadium like Thurles.

“It’s great that it’s in a stadium like that, as it was great to see the drawn game at Croke Park. I think it’s fitting for the occasion that it is, and it’s a great venue to showcase camogie and women’s sport in general.

“On a practical level, from commuting and getting there, it’s a bit easier. But listen, if it was in Dublin or anywhere, we would travel it is an All-Ireland final.

“Thankfully, they all got over the Christmas period ok. They did a couple of recovery sessions and pitch sessions. Sort of been a good balance to it and everyone’s in good form and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Win or lose, the team will be heading to Reardens on Sunday night for the All-Stars event at 8pm, where seven members of their team will be honoured.