Unbreakable Glass proves a class apart in dragging Glen over line
THE journey is complete. Glen have finally reached the top of the mountain. But if the Derry side were favourites to become All-Ireland champions in Croke Park yesterday, their eventual coronation was not straightforward.
As Conor Glass would remark afterwards, they don’t make things easy for themselves. For most of this game, they were second best to Brigid’s in almost every aspect. It looked like the Andy Merrigan Cup was heading back to Kiltoom for the second time.
When Eddie Nolan split the posts in the 55th minute, with Glen down to 14 men as Cathal Mulholland was in the sin bin, the Roscommon club were four points up and seemed to be cruising. In that moment, it looked like it was going to be All-Ireland final heartbreak for a second year in a row for Malachy O’Rourke and his team.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Conor Glass stood head and shoulders above all the other players on the field and spent most of the second half driving his teammates forward. And as time was ebbing away, the former AFL player wrote himself in his club’s folklore with a stunning goal that changed the whole complexion of this absorbing contest.
Glass had the wherewithal to spot the goal chance with Cormac Sheehy off his line, even if other players might have taken the point in the same situation. But the flame-haired midfielder is a special player, as he proved with his finish, rifling the ball into the net.
Glass had been heroically defiant all afternoon. Even when Brigid’s controlled most of the game, it was the big midfielder who was carrying the fight for his team. His goal meant that Glen, who had trailed for the whole game, were suddenly level and all the momentum was with the Derry side.
As the officials signalled five minutes of injury time, Conor Convery’s hard work earned a free which Emmett Bradley tapped over. For the first time in the game, Glen were ahead and Glass was intent on maintaining the momentum, his clever punch directing Sheehy’s kick-out towards Conleth McGuckian, who fired over an insurance point.
Brigid’s, having been in control for most of the afternoon, all of a sudden looked out on their feet. To their credit, they dug deep. Ben O’Carroll, who was superb for the whole game, was fouled and Shane Cunnane brought the Connacht side to within a point of parity.
With time almost up, Brian Stack was cynically pulled down by McGuckian, who got Glen’s second black card of the day, but this final free was just a little too far out as Cunnane’s effort tailed off to the left. And so, it meant that the Derry club made history and made amends for what happened 12 months ago, the 1-3 they scored in the closing stages ultimately having swung the match in their favour.
For so long, it felt like it was going to be Brigid’s day. They dominated the first half, and only Glen goalkeeper Connlan Bradley’s fine stop to deny Ben O’Carroll in the 14th minute meant that the westerners’ dominance didn’t have a fairer reflection on the scoreboard.
However, both O’Rourke and Glass referenced the character of this Glen side after the match and that is what kept them in this game.
They know how to cling on when things aren’t going right and Jody McDermott’s goal in the 28th minute injected some energy into their performance for the first time. When Ethan Doherty levelled matters with a point just before the break, we felt that this was only going one way.
Glen had been dominated in the first half but were still level at the break, 1-5 to 0-8. It was all set up for the seasoned Derry outfit to stretch for home after the interval. Instead, it was the Connacht champions who once again came out on top, Brian Derwin finding the net two minutes after the restart and following it up with a lovely point. Conceding a goal so soon after half-time is exactly the sort of thing that can decide an All-Ireland final. It can get into a players’ head. But Glass is a different sort of player. And Glen are made of different stuff.
Glen’s success means that Ulster clubs have done a clean sweep of All-Ireland titles at all grades this year. It is hard to know what this will mean for the county season ahead. But one thing is for certain — if Conor Glass is in this kind of form, Derry will be a danger to everyone.