TIME FOR US TO CONVERT
Glen skipper is determined to make the most of this shot at glory following a series of agonising losses at Croke Park
CONOR GLASS says he will return to Croke Park on Sunday with no hang-ups over previous heartbreak – and Glen deserve to be back there.
Glen skipper Glass admits he threw himself straight back into the National League with Derry to deal with the heartbreak of losing last year’s club decider to Kilmacud Crokes.
Knowing he could have changed that outcome in the dramatic finale made it worse.
“A defeat is difficult to take, never mind an All-ireland final,” said Glass. “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, inset) and a few boys went straight back to Derry and played 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 Oak Leaf went on a charge in the Championship, retaining their Ulster title before playing their part in an epic All-ireland semi-final that ultimately went Kerry’s way.
On Sunday, Glass finds himself back at Headquarters for another massive day out.
“It’s a long journey back,” he said. “If I had been talking about getting back to an All-ireland final 12 months ago after losing to Crokes last year, it wouldn’t have been healthy.
“It’s such a long way back, never mind getting out of Derry and Ulster. They’re seriously competitive competitions.
“I was chatting briefly to a fella yesterday and I was saying it’s a privilege to be here – but then he came back at me and said, ‘you deserve to be here’. “And we do deserve to be here. We put the work in over the last six to eight months.
“All the players have stayed focused on the task at hand. No boys went away and travelled. They were fully up for getting back to an All-ireland final.
“And it’s testament to the players and the management and the whole community in general to get behind the team.”
Derry also went down to Galway in the 2022 All-ireland semi-final but the 26-year-old former Aussie Rules player insists there is no scar tissue from what has gone before.
“Yes, I’ve had setbacks in Croke Park but people have had setbacks in other areas,” said Glass. “The best athletes have the shortest memories.
“Yes, we all want to learn from last year but there’s no point in dwelling on it and overthinking it.
“The boys in Glen do have a short-term memory – we’ve parked last year.
“This is a different season, there are different factors – different opposition in the final.
“There is that in the back of your head: ‘We’ve lost two semifinals and a final, is this ever going to happen?’.
“Let’s hope it happens this weekend.”