‘Torture’ of final defeat still lingers for Farrell
‘You think about the loss and you never want to feel like that again. You want to push on’
SHELLY FARRELL is deadly serious when she describes last year’s onepoint All-Ireland senior camogie final loss as “torture”.
The manner in which Cork’s Gemma O’Connor and then Julia White pulled out those scene-stealing scores to wrestle the O’Duffy Cup back from Kilkenny was so heartbreaking that the Thomastown flier couldn’t bear to watch the match video afterwards. But she couldn’t escape it forever.
The Cats’ management decided there was only one way to deal with such a dramatic loss.
When the team reassembled for their first meeting this season they watched it collectively, end to end, in a room in Nowlan Park and did a full debrief.
“To get the winning point from the last puck of the game,” Farrell groans, the memory still painful.
But she’s also generous enough to acknowledge that they were beaten, ultimately, by a pure wonder-stroke when White, surrounded by a hive of stripey women, managed to bag that spectacular late winner.
“I think it was in the 66th minute of seven minutes’ extra-time and we definitely thought it was going to be a draw,” the Noreside captain admits.
“I’ve seen a picture of it since and there were three (Kilkenny) girls around her. Their hurls were literally beside hers and she still got it away! It was a pretty amazing score.
“I went back to work on the Wednesday and was straight back into club matches that weekend and that was nearly good because it got your mind off it,” she admits.
Surely this gives the Cats extra motivation for this year’s re-match? It’s the fourth final between these sides in five years, the Rebels leading 3-1 at present.
“We played Galway in 2013 (final) and Cork since so we’re used to playing each other in All-Irelands,” Farrell insists.
“There is a bit of rivalry there but every team has that. There’s just a big hype about it because we’ve met each other in (so many) All-Ireland finals.”
But she does concede that losing a final, to anyone, always adds some extra fuel to the fire on tough winter training nights.
“At the start of the year when you go back training it’s very hard to get going again but then you think about the loss and you never want to feel like that again. You just want to push on.
“Thank God we’ve had that success in 2016 and we know what that feels like,” she says of Kilkenny’s longawaited breakthrough after 22 years.
The sides have met since in this year’s league final where the Cats, after a rollicking start and a 10-point lead, were almost reeled in again but held on by just a point to win their third Division 1 title in a row. Farrell says they’re not putting much store by that.
“The weather was unreal this year, We went from the snow to that unbelievable heat and it was very hard to train. I don’t think either of us had much field work done before the league final.”
Kilkenny have since topped their championship round-robin group but she reveals that their opening game against Limerick marked a real turning point in their season.
“Limerick were up at half-time. The management came in at half-time and didn’t say anything. We just said we’re not performing and we need to sort this out ourselves.
“We went out and let loose in the second half and we played like we do in training, finally brought it all out on the field. That was the best 30 minutes we’ve put in all year, we were delighted with that.”
They may have held Cork to 1-11 in the league final but the Rebels have, noticeably, racked up a whopping 15 goals and 121 points since in six championship matches.
Two tough games with Galway, including the semi-final where Katie Power’s goal was enough to separate them, has given Farrell’s side the sort of preparation they needed to try to dethrone the reigning champions.
“Galway were so physical, especially in the semi-final. It took us 10 to 20 minutes to really get into the match, it was like being hit by a bus, but it was very good to get those tough matches, otherwise you don’t know where you stand.
“I don’t know did we take it for granted maybe a bit last year but we definitely have left no stone unturned this year.
“We’ve trained harder than ever this year and we just have to do the same in a match now.”