‘Hopefully we can turn them over and get the win’
REACHING the championship final means it is mission accomplished for Glenealy this year but Danny
Staunton knows the job is only half done.
Glenealy’s captain knows all about Bray Emmets’ history and their ability but he wants to put a spanner in their future and end their stronghold on Wicklow hurling.
Staunton was forced to leave the field with a knock at the weekend as the Glens overcame Eire
Og and, despite seeing his defence concede four goals, he was just delighted to overcome the Greystones side and secure
Sunday’s showdown.
“We hurled well for most of it.
Towards the end we got scrappy but Greystones were coming fast and hard so you’d have to expect that but we’re just happy to get over the line and into a final.
“I’d rather there be none (goals!). I’d rather that they didn’t score at all and we could’ve erected a bit of a wall halfway up the field and got rid of their forwards but that’s what happens! Their job is to score goals and they did that plentiful today.”
Any Bray forward must be licking their lips knowing that their opponents were hit for four goals but Staunton knows that the past won’t be relevant come Sunday – and having reached the promised land, Glenealy want to become reacquainted with an old friend.
“They’ve a good few marquee lads that we’ll be watching out for – we would’ve played alongside them and against them many times. That’s our job, we’ve to try and outdo them and they’ve to try and outdo us. Hopefully the best team at the end of it will win it.
“We weren’t even thinking about the final or being underdogs or favourites – we just wanted to get back into it. We’ve been out of it for the last couple of years and it’s a big deal to get back into it for us. We’ll enjoy the day.
“The championship is the big one. It’s a bonus to win leagues and things along the way – it’s silverware – but the big thing is championship and to get back into a final is what we would’ve been planning and hoping for. Now we’re here so we’ll see how it goes.”
Bray halted Glenealy in their bid for five-in-a-row and now Glenealy have the chance to prevent Bray landing their fourth title on the trot. For many Glenealy men, it will be a new experience.
“That’s their bit of history to try and make and it’s our bit of history to try and stop it but at the end of the day it is just another match and they’ll be looking to beat us and we’ll be looking to beat them.
“It’s funny how history repeats itself. Hopefully we can turn them over and get the win but we’ll see how it goes. We can’t predict anything but we’ll have a go at them and see.
“We’ve a few new lads who’d be coming into their first final and a few lads that’d be coming into a lot more than their first final. That’s just the way it is. We’ve played them enough and they’ve played enough us and we know each other by now.”
Two men that know each other very well are Staunton’s team-mates – Bosco Sr. & Jr. The father and son duo are key members of the Glenealy panel and it will be a proud day for them – and Staunton – as they walk out in Joule Park on Sunday.
“It’s a funny coincidence and if we could have a third Bosco on the field it’d be even better again! I’m delighted for the two of them. It’ll be a very proud day in the O’Neill household and the other O’Neill’s involved as well!
“It’s a small little village and I’m massively proud to captain the team but we’ll see how everything goes. It’ll be a very proud day for myself and my family.
“This is what you do it for. You do it for the enjoyment of it and this is what you dream of.”