ONE of the unique things about this Glen side is that, unlike so many successful teams, they didn’t start with the foot-up of genetic inheritance.
Conor Convery’s father Donal was a handy baller but had his career curtailed by a serious knee injury in his mid-20s. He moved straight into coaching, working with boys that were not much younger than he was, and has had a huge hand in the development of the club’s underage over many years.
Conor Glass’ father Cathal stands out in that he played a bit for Derry and for many years for Glen.
There are stronger bloodlines to Glen’s on-field past among the subs. Gary McGill and Damian McCusker were All-Ireland winners with Derry in 1993. Their sons Oran (McGill) and Tiernan and Declan (McCusker) are on the squad.
Tiarnan Higgins’ father Dixie was a good club player. A handful of other fathers played a bit, mostly reserves.
You have the blow-ins too. Roger McDermott (Scotstown) and Barry McGonigle (Dungiven) won Ulster Club titles as players, eight years apart. Their respective sons Jody and Adam (whose father also won an All-Ireland minor title with Derry in 1989) are on the fringes of this Glen team.
Siobhan Doherty, mother of Jack, Alex and Ethan, is a sister of Seamy Quinn, an unstoppable force in both Gaelic football and soccer. The Magherafelt legend is currently captain of Magherafelt Reds at the age of 57.
It’s not completely without birth-right but mostly, this is a team of young footballers built up without the kind of lineage you would often find in successful GAA teams.
They’ve had to find their own way.
There has, understandably, been much emphasis placed on the evolution of their four consecutive Ulster minor winning teams.
Conor Convery was also one of a clutch of Glen players that won a Hogan Cup with St Patrick’s Maghera in 2013, and lost the following year’s final to Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s Chorca Dhuibhne outfit as well.
Connor Carville, Stevie O’Hara, Cathal Mulholland, Danny Tallon, Cathair McCabe, Conor McDevitt, Oisin Hegarty and Conor Gallagher of the current squad were all involved in 2013.
In their school days they naturally formed friendships with their team-mates from Slaughtneil.
Convery had to sit and watch as buddies Meehaul McGrath and Cormac O’Doherty swept into senior and won three Ulster football titles, as well as four more in hurling.
“You have to give them credit, they were competing on both fronts at national level almost year on year. You’re in envy,” admits Convery.
“You saw the boys you played at school with, like I’d be friendly with Meehaul McGrath, Cormac O’Doherty, you saw them compete in All-Ireland finals, Ulster finals and you’re thinking hopefully one day maybe we can get there.
“We knew how successful they’d been. Every time they went into Ulster bar one year, they won it. We knew if we beat them, we’d be going into the next level with that experience behind us and a good chance.
“The Ulster Championship’s a world of its own but we knew if we could beat Slaughtneil, we’d have a good chance.”
He lives at the edge of their territory, out beside the chapel on the Glen Road. It’s out towards south Derry’s peaceful answer to the West Bank, straddling Glen and Slaughtneil.
“Borderline,” he laughs.
“There’d be debates over that one, but a right bit away [from Slaughtneil] I’d say.”
His father was such an ardent Glen man that there was never any sense of debate over it. He’d go out the road to Watty Graham Park.
Glen might be a town team in the sense of Derry but they’re dwarfed by the size of their opponents this Sunday.
Kilmacud Crokes have more club members than the entire population of Maghera.
The focus on Shane Walsh has only been multiplied by, for the second successive season, the absence of Paul Mannion when it’s come to the crunch.
He’ll be back in Dublin colours later in the year but for now it’s the Galway forward who’s become the most-watched player in senior club football, a close second to that lad from Fossa that’s done alright.
But Kilmacud are laced with their own homegrown quality. Unlike many of their Dublin rivals, Walsh is a rare import of recent seasons. The rest of their squad is all their own.
“It’s gonna be a serious task,” says Convery.
“You look through their team, there’s quality everywhere, before they added in Shane Walsh. They’ve the likes of Rory O’Carroll, multiple All-Ireland winner, Andy McGowan with Dublin seniors, Craig Dias has been one of the best club players in Ireland consistently the last six or seven years.
“They’re a club that’s been at this level, heavyweight level, nearly year on year, whereas we’re relatively new. It’s a serious, serious challenge. One we’re looking forward to but we know it’s a tough task ahead,” said the 27-year-old.
