For the generations coming after and the ones that have gone before, Granemore’s semi-final win over Killeavy was something special.
A fortuitous Tony McClelland goal handed them the initiative during the closing stages, just as the opposition were coming back into the game. Odhran Doyle grabbed a second major, the icing on the cake, as Granemore sealed a spot in their first ever senior decider.
It took a day or two to sink in, and probably hasn’t been appreciated fully just yet, but it was a huge “relief” for the Granemore players according to their joint-skipper Darren Carr.
The St Mary’s club have been knocking on the door in the last number of years but could never get over the last four hurdle and line out behind the band on the biggest day of all. But that’s exactly where they’ll be on Sunday.
“It was huge, for a lot of us it was probably relief more than anything to win that game after disappointment in so many semi-finals,” said Carr, recalling the moments after the final whistle.
“And you see what it meant to people from kids to guys that are maybe about the club for 50 or 60 years, it meant a lot to them. You were on cloud nine for a day or two, and then you get back to training and you get back at it and it’s just one more match.”
For the children coming along hoping to create even more history in the future, Carr and his teammates have shown the way.
“You probably don’t really appreciate that until you see all the kids,” continued Carr. “There was a guy, after the semi-final, his young fella at ten years of age watching the game said to him, ‘I want to be out there’.
“And you probably don’t appreciate that until somebody comes and tells you. I know when I was a young lad you looked up to the senior team as well and those guys were your heroes.
“That is a great aspect of it and hopefully it gives the whole underage a lift at the minute and going forward into the next couple of seasons as well.”
Carr has worn the number eight jersey throughout the championship but lined out in the full back line and has helped Niall McAleenan’s team keep three clean sheets from three outings.
But they’re coming up against a Crossmaglen side that boast the “best forward line in the county” this weekend
“We know the task in front of us and I know we’ve kept a clean sheet to date but it’s very fine margins. You saw the penalty the last day (against Killeavy), that skimmed past the post and another one blocked on the line.
“Football, it’s very fine margins and you can concede an unlucky goal, anybody can. We know the task in front of us and we are coming up against the best forward line in the county and we’re preparing as best we can for that and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
