It finished a draw, the same result for both, but when you've left a six-point lead slip with a little over five minutes of regulation time remaining, it’s hard not to be down in the dumps, even though there were five more minutes of injury-time.
Conversely, the mood can be almost celebratory for reeling that deficit in.
So were St Finbarr’s the losers and Athenry the winners?
Managing the mental side of things will be crucial between now and the replay of the AIB All-Ireland senior club camogie final, on the first weekend of January, and it was no surprise that Méabh Cahalane, the Barrs experienced captain was already accentuating the positive.
No silverware changed hands on this day.
At 0-15 to 0-09, after Eimear Hurley’s point, the third of three on the trot for the Leesiders, it seemed a racing certainty.
But a 56th minute goal by substitute Anna Jordan, a brace of points from Sabina Rabbitte, and a cool equaliser from Kayla Madden turned it all on its head.
"We controlled the game for large periods but the last eight or ten minutes, we didn’t control that lead and gave Athenry a chance to come back into it," mused Cahalane.
"A few harsh decisions against us at the end I thought but that is always going to be the way when the game is so close. But we’ve lost nothing, we’ve another day out and I think we can improve from things that we learned today and hopefully we’ll have another crack of the whip.
"I think there were chances that we could have finished the game and gone up eight or nine points. But credit to Athenry, similar to some games that we played this year, they knew the game wasn’t over and there was something still to play for and in fairness to them, they really did come back to us and took their chances. We on the other hand didn’t but that’s sport. You have another day out.
"If we were here after losing by a point, we’d absolutely take this result.
"Athenry were going to have their purple patch. They’re not here for no reason. It took them a while to get to grips with the game but in the second half, they definitely were the better team.
"I’m sure it was really exciting and a tight game to watch. Two really good teams going at it. We had their purple patch, we had ours and maybe a draw is a fair result."
Therese Donohue walked away with the player of the match award, belying her 44 years with a supernatural display, even allowing for her legendary status in the sport. It was a performance that was about much more than her three points or the shot that rebounded off the crossbar for the match-turning goal.
"Exhausted, to be honest," said the artist formerly known as Therese Maher. "This pitch seems to get wider and wider as you get older. There’s a lot of ground to cover!
"I’m just so glad we get another bite of the cherry because there was more in us. We ran a lot of ball down the channels and just didn’t convert them. A few points went astray.
"We were six points down and I’d have taken a draw at that stage. They are a fine team. They fairly ran at us in the first ten minutes of the first half. But if we could hurl for longer like we did in the last five minutes – there’s more in us. I’m just delighted we have another bite of the cherry.
"We’re still in it. If you’d said to me with five minutes to go, we’d have another chance I’d have taken your hand off. You stay battling. You stay fighting."
No plans for Christmas?
"I’ve three kids!" comes the riposte. Camogie will have to take a back seat for a day or two, at least.
Cahalane was already making peace with the change of plans.
"We’ll have to stay away from the table now! But it will be worth it if we can finish the job the next day."
