Gailltír manager Roisin Hartley has paid tribute to her players for their gargantuan effort yesterday - as they lost the Munster Senior Club Camogie Championship Final Replay on 45s having drawn after full-time and two periods of extra-time.
Gailltír and Clare champions Truagh Clonlara couldn't be separated after two weekends and 156 minutes of enthralling camogie - with the game finishing Gailltír 3-15 Truagh Clonlara 4-12 after 90 minutes. This followed on from a 1-9 apiece draw a weekend prior in Fethard.
Ultimately, 45s was the way the destination of the AIB Senior Cup was determined - with Truagh-Clonlara prevailing on a 9-8 scoreline after ten efforts each.
Gailltír were bidding to become the first ever Waterford camogie side to lift a Munster senior camogie title, but it wasn't to be despite leaving everything out there in Thurles.
Manager Roisin Hartley says her side simply couldn't have done anymore.
"We got off to a really poor start, and we really, really recovered really well - got to the extra time and then got to extra, extra time. We're absolutely a gutted dressing room in there to lose on 45s. It's not a nice way to lose a game, probably not a very fair way to lose a game - but look, we have to suck it up now. I'm very proud I have to say. I'm really, really proud of the girls."
She told WLR what she said to the players in the dressing room.
"Two years ago, we'd never have come back from going that seven points down initially and they just kept going to the well for us all year. In the county final again, it was in the dying moments before we actually could get that over the line and you saw them today again. They were never going to be beaten on the pitch and that's the way I feel about it. They weren't actually beaten on the field of play. We were beaten in a 45 shootout. Absolutely gutted but we can't ask for any more - they left everything they had out on the pitch and there's no more to say about it really, is there?"
There certainly isn't much more to say - Gailltír are wounded, but a wounded animal is a very spirited thing indeed. There's no doubt brighter days lie ahead for the blue and navy - having done the Deise proud for 2024.
For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR App for news on demand.
