CONNACHT champions St Brigid’s are the form team going into Sunday’s All-Ireland club final, warns Glen skipper Conor Glass.
The Kiltoom outfit weren’t fancied to win the Roscommon title but did so and then shocked All-Ireland favourites Corofin in the Munster final before accounting for Munster champs Castlehaven at the All-Ireland semi-final stage.
Glass says Glen have to produce their best performance of this season to win the Andy Merrigan Cup at the second attempt.
“Brigid’s are the in-form team in the competition. They have a serious talent pool and they are a lot more successful club than we are,” said Glass.
“We know that we are going to be in for a battle. Our form against Kilmacud Crokes is not going to be good enough this weekend. We know it’s going to take a hell lot more to beat Brigid’s.”
Glass had a chance to win the All-Ireland for Glen last year. In the dying seconds, the ball fell to him in front of Kilmacud goal and he sent a first-time shot low towards the corner.
He hit it well enough and placed it well enough but the Kilmacud ‘keeper made a brilliant fingertip save. The ball went for a 45, Kilmacud had 16 men on the pitch when it was taken but at the final whistle they were two ahead and the result stood.
Twelve months on and Glen avenged that loss in the Newry fog. Now St Brigid’s stand in their way and harsh lessons from last year will help on Sunday, says Glass.
“A defeat is difficult to take, never mind an All-Ireland final,” the midfielder explained and the traces of emotion in his voice suggest that the scars of last year’s defeat have yet to heal.
“On a personal note, I had a chance to win the game and the Crokes goalkeeper pulled off an unbelievable save.
“A lot of the 24 hours/48 hours (afterwards) does come into self-sabotaging, getting into your own head a bit, but that’s natural with any competitor. Myself, Ethan (Doherty) and a few boys went straight back to Derry and played Clare or Cork (it was actually Limerick) in the first round in Owenbeg so that was my coping mechanism, to go back and play for Derry.
“It probably didn’t leave my head for a good month or two and that’s probably because I cared so much about it.”
The furore over Kilmacud’s 16th man meant the game stayed in the news and there was a “lingering effect” on whether a replay would be ordered. It wasn’t and pulling on the county colours was a way for Glass and some of his team-mates to drown out the noise and the disappointment they felt.
“It was (a coping mechanism), yeah,” says Glass.
“It was purely down to the players. Rory (Gallagher) said if we were available to play, he would play us. He wasn’t saying: ‘You have to play’. It came down to the players.”
Mickey Harte has similarly left the door ajar for the Glen men to return to the Derry fold in time for the trip to Tralee on January 27. Glass doesn’t rule it out but he won’t give it any head space until after Sunday’s final.
“The cliché is you’re only focusing on this weekend, which we are,” he says.
“I haven’t thought about Derry at all the last couple of months.
“Yes, I have been watching them in the McKenna Cup and that sort of thing but I’m sure we’ll have a word with Mickey next week in terms of his plans for us. Having another crack at Kerry down in Tralee would be a good way to start off but we’ll see how we get out of this game and see how the bodies are feeling next week and make the call then.”