Emotion to the fore in long-awaited junior success for Barrow Rangers

The final whistle had just sounded when the Nowlan Park PA system advised spectators to stay in the stands with the senior county final taking place the following day.

The only problem here was that Barrow Rangers had just won the junior hurling title for the first time since 1990 - so it didn’t take long until the club’s adoring supporters found their way onto the pitch in celebration!

And you only needed to look around the pitch to see how much it meant to the people of Paulstown and Goresbridge.

Team captain Marc Drennan gave a fantastic speech when receiving the Bob Aylward Cup, but he was almost lost for words when asked to sum up his feelings afterwards.

“It’s unbelievable, we’ve waited so long for this and it’s incredible,” he said.

“The feeling when that final whistle went - you wouldn’t get it anywhere else.

“We’re such a small club and days like today don’t come around too often, so when you have it you have to enjoy it.”

Read More- Barrow Rangers end long wait to win Kilkenny junior hurling title

The 27-year-old is a farmer by profession, while his all-action role in midfield sums up what makes Barrow Rangers stand out.

While over the moon with the success, Drennan also knows that they may have had luck on their side after O’Loughlin Gaels had a late goal disallowed.

“O’Loughlins are a great team and a great club and we knew they’d always come back at us,” he said. “They fought to the bitter end so we are just thankful for that square ball.”

In similar fashion, man of the match Joe Healy spoke of the elation and the enormity of the achievement for everyone in the club.

“Words don’t put into perspective how big this is for the club,” he said. “We’re a junior club 30 years now and 35 since we last won the title. We’ve been trying and trying to get back there and thankfully we got over the line this time.”

It’s not unfair to say that this success has come somewhat against the grain with the winning club not even reaching a semi-final since 2019, but that’s what will make it even sweeter.

The fact it took penalties to beat Emeralds in the quarter-final and extra-time against Galmoy in the last four seemed to inspire the team onto bigger things.

“The last two games have really stood to us as it gave us that experience going into extra-time and the lads knew not to panic,” he said.

“The subs came in and drove us on again and that all matters and it feels so good now. It’s so tough to win this championship and you can ask anyone and they’ll tell you that is never simple.

“Being favourites doesn’t really mean anything at junior level as it’s always on the day to see whoever is the best,” Healy added. “Thankfully we’ve just came out on top in our last three or four games and we can look forward to intermediate next year.”

The 21 year-old student has been the standout player in the Rangers attack and his 1-11 tally played a huge role in getting them over the line. He knows it needed a full squad effort to get the victory.

“As a team from 1 to 30, we drive each other on. We knew we probably didn’t have the edge that we needed over the last few years and we pulled together this year and all of us backed each other and thankfully we got over the line.

“I couldn’t fault any of our players out there and we’ve great hurling and experience in the team,” he added. “The ball in is what makes the scores for the forwards and it’s up to us to do the rest then.”

Barrow Rangers will now go on to represent Kilkenny in the Leinster championship but for this week, winning a first county title in over three decades is all that concerns them.