Ballymacarbry will bring plenty of experience into Friday night’s Waterford Ladies Senior Football Championship final, but Karen McGrath says they are expecting a major challenge from a Gaultier side making history.

Ballymacarbry booked their place in the final with an 11-8 victory over Stradbally in a tight semi-final, with McGrath admitting the game could have gone either way for long periods.

The sides were level with just 13 minutes remaining before Ballymacarbry managed to find the decisive scores.

“It really could have gone either way,” McGrath said. “It was a physical encounter, and I think we were kind of lucky in the end to just get over the line.”

For McGrath, the nature of the semi-final could prove valuable preparation for another difficult game under the lights.

Ballymacarbry have not always hit their full flow during the championship, according to McGrath, but she believes getting through a close encounter against Stradbally can give the team something to build on.

“Thankfully we did, and hopefully we can build on that performance again and improve even more as we go into the county final.”

Standing in their way are Gaultier, who will contest their first-ever senior football final after defeating the reigning champions Comeragh Rangers in their semi-final.

McGrath has plenty of respect for their opponents and believes their experience of playing both camogie and football makes them a particularly energetic and physical side.

Ballymacarbry already faced Gaultier earlier in the championship, with McGrath recalling another tight encounter which Ballymacarbry eventually won by three points.

“They’re very energetic, very physical,” she said. “We’re absolutely not going to take them for granted.”

While Gaultier will be experiencing a senior football county final for the first time, McGrath feels their players are not strangers to the big occasion, with many having played in camogie finals.

“They’re well used to finals, well used to winning finals as well,” she said.

Ballymacarbry will therefore prepare in the same way they would for any county final, with McGrath expecting Gaultier to bring plenty of energy to the occasion.

“They’re going to come with real energy. They’ve nothing to lose coming in. They’re going to throw absolutely everything at it.”

For Ballymacarbry, there is also the experience of having been through county finals before, with McGrath admitting that provides its own motivation.

“We’ve been there before. We’ve won them, we’ve lost them. We don’t want to lose another one.”

The final takes place on Friday, October 2nd at 7.30 pm in Friarfield, with Ballymacarbry and Gaultier meeting in a first-ever senior football county final pairing.

McGrath expects a tight contest and believes the game could go down to the wire.

“I think this will be kind of similar to our game maybe the other day, that it’s really, really tight coming into the home stretch.”

WLR will have live updates throughout Friday night’s final.