Late Aoife Hannon point means Lismore and Ballyhale Shamrocks have to do it all again.

These are interesting times for those that hurl in Waterford.

The past year has proven to be very interesting.

Dungarvan Colleges won back to back Dr Harty Cups. They then went on to win the Dr Croke Cup for the first time.

Waterford minor hurlers won the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship last September for the first time since 1948.

The Waterford senior hurlers were very unlucky not to beat Kilkenny in a championship game for the first time since 1959.

Passage won a first ever Waterford Senior Hurling Championship and were somewhat unlucky when they played in the Munster Championship.

Ballysaggart went all the way to Croke Park in the Junior Club Championship where at half time against Antrim side Kickhams Creggan things looked extremely good, but the Ulster side came back into contention in the second half forcing the game to extra time where they would have won but for a strong finish by Ballysaggart.

In the replay, Ballysaggart were again looking good at the break but again the Ulster side in the second half outscored the West Waterford, Co Waterford and Munster Champions.

And don’t forget the Ladies.

Waterford’s Intermediate team reached the All-Ireland semi final and the League semi final last year. They won the Munster Final and the Counties under 16 team won the Munster Final against Cork but lost to the same opposition in the Munster Final.

And let’s not forget Galltir who won a Feile National Final last summer in Limerick.

O yes, there is one other team.

Lismore. I have not forgotten about their Camogie team. They have had a brilliant past twelve months.  And they captured the County Senior League Final on May 18 against Saint Anne’s at Fraher Field.

They went on to add the County Senior Final to their roll of honour a few months later beating the same opposition at Lemybrien and then a few weeks later the Munster Intermediate Final after they beat Newmarket-on-Fergus at the second attempt in Latten-Cullen and only a month ago they won their first ever All-Ireland Club semi final when they beat Liatroim Fontenoys at Crettyard.

However we will have to wait another two weeks before we know where the Agnes O’Farrelly Cup will find a home for the next twelve months as they could not be separated from Ballyhale Shamrocks when the sides met in the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park earlier today.

The game was one which could well have gone either way and in the end a draw was possibly the fairest result all round.

Lismore started brightly, and finished the stronger of the two sides but in between it was the Kilkenny outfit that proved to be the stronger side, especially in the third quarter of the game.

Lismore retired at the break holding a three point advantage, but they will be the first to admit that things could have been much different.

Lismore missed a number of frees that they would normally would have got, but this could well be put down to nerves and playing in unfamiliar settings.

Ballyhale Shamrocks could have been out of sight themselves at the break as they missed at least three chances to raise green flags in the first half, two of which fell to team captain Emilee Dermody, the other to Mags Fennelly who would later hit a crucial score for her side.

Lismore had a great start to this day. Nicola Morrissey who put in a good hours work for the Heritage Town side in this game opened the scoring when she pointed with less than thirty seconds on the clock.

However, the Kilkenny and Leinster Champions who like Lismore were vying for their first title at this level, fought back and points from Kelly-Anne Cottrell and Keeva Fennelly soon had their side in front.

One thing that nobody could say about this Lismore team is that they are not committed and have a great bonding within the team hit back with points from Ruth Geoghegan and Nicola Morrissey to retake the lead with twelve minutes on the clock.

Lismore were now playing well and further points from Aoife Hannon and Shona Curran gave Lismore a 0-5 to 0-2 lead and when the hard working Ruth Geoghegan added her second of the game, things were looking extremely good for the side in Black and amber.

However before the break, the Ballyhale Shamrocks were able to cut the Lismore lead by one when Kelly-Ann Cottrell pointed from a free four minutes from the break.

Three points up at the break, Lismore were doing well. They were limiting the amount of frees they were giving away. They knew that giving away too many could prove costly as other sides had found to their cost as Kelly-Anne Cottrell was not going to miss many. They also knew that if they could keep the ball out of their own net, then there was going to be an excellent chance that the cup would cross over Lismore Bridge and under the shadow of the town’s famous castle.

However, things did not work out as Lismore would have liked in the second half as Kelly-Anne Cottrell added her third point of the game from frees shortly after the restart and three minutes into the half, Aisling O’Brien was picking the ball out her net after Mags Fennelly cracked the games only goal.

The same player attempted the beat Aisling O’Brien again but the Aglish native who is one of the best net minders in the game was equal to her and managed to keep the ball out.

In the first half Lismore were causing Ballyhale Shamrocks all sorts of problems in their back line, but what ever was said in the Kilkenny sides dressing room at the break worked as marshalled by Róisín Fennelly in the second half playing at full back, the Kilkenny and Leinster champions worked hard to restrict the amount of freedom that Lismore had in the second half of the game.

A point from the brilliant Shona Curran levelled matters for Lismore but the Kilkenny outfit hit the next two scores in the game through Kelly-Anne Cottrell and Keeva Fennelly to go two points up with less than ten minutes to play.

Lismore now had to call on all the experience that they have amassed in recent years and on the great bonding there is within the panel over the coming minutes.

Ruth Geoghegan was very unlucky not to have rattled the Ballyhale Shamrocks net and she would have but for a timely intervention from Róisín Fennelly who put in a terrific hook on the pacey Lismore forward.

Nicola Morrissey put over a late point to leave one between the sides and now it was Squeaky Bums time.

Lismore continued to attack the Ballyhale Shamrocks goal and when Aoife Hannon put over a point from distance to level matters it raised a great cheer from the travelling Lismore support.

With important National League games coming up and with players from both sides expected to be prominent members of the Inter county panels, neither side were prepared to settle for a draw.

Both sides continued to work hard to see if a winner could be got, but it was not to be. Both sides had to settle for the draw and will have to do it all over again on March 16.

Both sides would love to have won the game on the day and one of them would have loved to have climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand after the game, but it was not to be.

Winning in Croke Park would be nice for the players. It would be a memory that would stick in their memories for the rest of their lives. But they will now know that while the replay is extremely unlikely to be played at GAA head quarters, it is a win regardless of where it will be at is the important thing in two weeks time.

LISMORE: Aisling O’Brien, Sarah Coughlan, Shauna Prendergast, Marie Russell, Aoife Houlihan, Shauna Kiernan, Sarah Fenton, Nicola Morrissey, Shona Curran, Laura Buckley, Grainne Kenneally, Aoife Hannon, Caithriona McGlone, Jennifer Hannon, Ruth Geoghegan. Sub: Johanna Houlihan for Jennifer Hannon (41).

SCORERS: Nicola Morrissey 0-3; Ruth Geoghegan, Shona Curran (2fs), Aoife Hannon (1f) 0-2 each

BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS: Ciara Fennelly, Helen Dermody, Róisín Fennelly, Orna Fennelly, Emily O’Dwyer, Jacqui Frisby, Clodagh Corcoran, Catherine Connolly, Edel Frisby, Eimear Fitzpatrick, Kelly-Anne Cottrell, Keeva Fennelly, Lucy Elvidge, Mags Fennelly, Emily Dermody. Sub: Grace Fennelly for Elvidge (24).

SCORERS: Kelly-Anne Cottrell 0-4; Mags Fennelly 1-0; Keeva Fennelly 0-2

Referee: Cathal Egan (Cork)