The decision to reschedule the AIB All-Ireland camogie club semi-final between Sarsfields and Slaughtneil to the Naomh Éanna ground in Gorey did raise eyebrows.
Given the long distances that both semi-finalists then had to travel, particularly the trek involved for Slaughtneil, the choice of venue was surprising. The Derry champions had to stay overnight in Bray as part of their preparation.
The match itself was played in horrendous conditions, with squally showers and a gusty wind testing the resolve of the players. Sarsfields manager Michael 'Hopper' McGrath, in speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game, said: "If right was right, the match shouldn't have been played at all, but with the two teams coming so far I suppose it had to be played.
"The pitch cut up out there, it was dog eat dog. You had two good camogie teams out there but neither could show their real camogie skills. It was just a battle."
In the end the battle was won by the Galway side, edging home by the bare minimum after extra-time. The victory set up another All-Ireland final date with Wexford's Oulart-The Ballagh, 11 weeks on from when the sides met in the 2020 decider, with the Wexford champions coming out on top by five points.
Whether Sarsfields being pushed all the way a fortnight ago in testing conditions will serve them better against an Oulart outfit who had it all too easy against Scariff Ogonolloe, well that remains to be seen.
For defender Laura Ward, playing in such difficult conditions in Gorey was something that she and her Sarsfields colleagues will not forget.
Speaking to the media ahead of next Sunday's showdown at Croke Park, she said: "Out of all the games I've ever played in it would have to be the worst conditions ever. The ball was landing and you could see the puddles splashing. I read an article during the week and they said ducks wouldn’t have played in it.
"It was a low-scoring game due to the conditions. You can learn a lot from a game like that, from a dogged game, especially with extra time. It's hard to know which team would have learned the most. Would Oulart have learned the most from their game or us with the conditions in our game"?
That said, Ward did hail the "spirit" Sars' showed in eking out the victory against their Derry opponents.
"The way you win it is some feeling after getting over extra time and being lucky enough to be on the winning side," she added.
"It does build up a good bit of spirit in the team. And it showed great character to be able to get through the game and have the legs to get through it. It was brilliant. Now we'd a bit of luck on our side as well but we’ll take it."
And so Oulart-The Ballagh lie in wait again. The opportunity to get revenge and win back a title last won in 2019. Also an opportunity to atone for not bringing their "A game" to UPMC Nowlan Park on 18 December last.
Ward explained: "You can look at it in two ways. Did they stop us playing our A-game? They had their work done on us. Not that we didn't have our work done on them but there was that four-or-five-minute spell in the first half where they went to town on us and that killed us.
"They do that in a lot of their games. They started off well against Dicksboro, and Scariff the last day and once they get a good start they seem to be able to hold that lead for the whole game."
The 24-year-old also believes that Oulart had their "homework" done in advance of the game.
"It kind of looked like we didn't have our set-up right from watching back on the game. In the moment, it was very hard to pick what was going wrong on us. I just think they had a lot of work done on us, they knew what players to stop for us, they knew where the ball was going before we even had it struck.
"They just seemed to have a lot of homework done on us that day."
Of course Ward and her defensive colleagues will be keeping tabs on the likes of Oulart's Úna Leacy and Ursula Jacob. It's a challenge they are relishing.
"If you want to win, you want to mark the best, you want to play the best and you want to beat the best so I suppose that's enough of a drive in itself.
"Going out there the next day, all you want to do is win the first ball and hope every other ball will bounce into your hand or bounce the right way for you, and not bounce into Úna Leacy’s hand or Ursula Jacob’s hand. Just hope for a little bit of luck as well."
At last week's GAA Congress, the GPA's motion calling on the GAA to prioritise integration with the LGFA and the Camogie Association passed with 89.8% of the vote. Ward welcomed that decision and now hopes going forward that camogie players won't be treated as a second class citizens when it comes to pitches.
"It'd be absolutely unbelievable to have everything under the one umbrella, mostly for pitches. Camogie seems to struggle to get pitches. At least if we have full power to get into pitches, you can’t be kicked out at the last minute, like many teams have been.
"I remember for our All-Ireland semi-final a few years ago against Thomastown, we were kicked out literally an hour before the game and sent down to a pitch with no white lines, no flags, the grass wasn’t cut. Them things, hopefully when everything is under the one umbrella nothing like that can happen.
"We walked the pitch beforehand. I think it was the groundsman who said the pitch wasn’t playable. The pitch was a 100% playable. We walked it and it was grand. It was a typical thing against camogie."
