It's not unreasonable to suggest that winning the county title every year would lose some of its lustre over time.
Particularly when clocking up a Gaelic games record of 42 successive crowns.
But Waterford senior women's football final day was particularly memorable for Ballymacarbry’s Aileen Wall this year. And not just because they needed extra-time to get past Comeragh Rangers.
The captain lifted the cup and then rushed 35 kilometres straight from Lemybrien to Clonmel hospital, where her older sister Mairéad was giving birth to son Mikey.
"My sister was due three weeks after the county final and her husband went on a trip to Dubai, thinking nothing would happen," former Déise star Wall tells RTÉ Sport. "I suppose we never thought that she would go three weeks early, it was her first child.
"She rings me on the morning of the county final, saying 'I’m actually in hospital in Clonmel'. I was her back-up birthing partner or whatever you want to call it. I accepted the cup, did my speech, handed it off to someone and ran and went to the hospital. Her husband made it home with 15 minutes to spare actually but I wasn’t allowed leave! We were all in it then at that stage. She had a lovely little baby boy that night, at 11 o’clock. [Another sister] Linda had a baby three weeks before that as well, so it was all go. It was a big day, one that I’ll remember for definite."
And that incredible record of 42 in a row?
"From the outside, maybe it’s expected. We don’t take anything for granted. We’ve had exceptional challenges over the years. People see this record and they think, 'God, ye’re walking it’… we’re not.
"They’re getting much harder to win. This year was the tightest game we ever had, and over the last few years I’ve remembered very serious county finals. We were down six points at half-time, two or three years ago, so they haven’t been easy.
"But I suppose experience has always stood to us. And I suppose for the other teams, there can be a bit of fear there as well in beating a team and winning that county title. So, it’s all being played in our favour.
"Stradbally have been there or thereabouts as well. Kilrossanty Brickeys are a new team that are young and coming on the scene, and they actually beat us this year in championship but with only five teams, we play a round-robin so you’re kind of guaranteed a semi-final unless you’re the unfortunate one."
Just over two months later and new mother Mairéad is back on the panel as Ballymac play in their first All-Ireland senior club final since 1998, which was their 11th victory in 13 years. Little did the club know they would be waiting 25 years for another shot at national glory.
"I was only five, so I don’t have great memories of it," says Aileen. "But I know all the players that were involved, and was lucky to play with a few of them at the very end of their careers.
"It’s great to see ladies football in Croke Park, and it’s such a big day for any club but it’s made all the more special with Croke Park around you."
Wall reckons she has won Waterford 17 times, starting at 13-years-old, but insists she would "probably give up every medal I could to win an All-Ireland with Ballymac.
"I just think it would be the pinnacle of any player’s career to be in Croke Park and have your cup. To say you were the best club in Ireland that year – it would be amazing.
The opposition in Saturday’s decider are formidable: Galway and Connacht champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne are aiming for their third All-Ireland crown in succession.
Aileen Wall on the mistakes of last year as @BallymacLGFC now eye All-Ireland glory #rtegaa https://t.co/AdZIC1JHri All-Ireland Club Finals @LadiesFootball pic.twitter.com/ws4k03UDYY
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) December 13, 2023
In last year’s semi-final, they thrashed Ballymac by 2-10 to 0-02. But Wall feels the Waterford women had put everything into regaining the cup named after their legendary former manager Michael Ryan, following 11 previous provincial final defeats.
"I suppose we set out to win Munster last year and that involved kind of peaking a bit earlier than we probably wanted to," she says.
"We knew Waterford were playing the Cork champions in the Munster quarter-final so if we were going to win Munster it was going to be up against Mourneabbey and I suppose that is when we needed to peak really to get our best game, because we hadn’t beaten them ever.
"There was a monkey on our back there for 20 years to win a Munster. God we were so close, it was Mourneabbey pipping us every time but thankfully we got over that. This year then we were able to look at things a little bit differently. We knew who was in Munster and we had a bit of a different target.
"Last year our All-Ireland semi-final was a bit dismal, to be honest. Kilkerrin-Clonberne were able to plan a bit differently, they had All-Ireland final on their mind.
"But we have prepared differently this year. We set ourselves different timelines on stuff and thankfully we’ve got it right, we’re coming good at the right time.
"We are in a very different position, we have a very different team, four of our girls from last year aren’t with us this year between babies and travelling. We have young players who have come in, a 15-year-old went out and marked the Banner’s best player – she got a point in the Munster final. So we have a different team, a different structure. We are not going to dwell on that [semi-final defeat], we are going to go out and take it as the next game."
Follow a live blog on Ballymacarbry v Kilkerrin-Clonberne on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app
