Gilsenan hoping Glyde can make their Mark
ROOKIE boss Mark Gilsenan, right, would be the first to admit that he set himself up for a baptism of fire last winter when he agreed to fill the Glyde Rangers hotseat.
Just a decade after reaching a senior semi-final the Tallanstown outfit slipped into the basement grade in league and championship, but that didn’t put the Monaghan native off when he was encouraged by fellow Ardee CC teacher Peter Duffy to throw his hat in the ring.
‘I would have been a selector with my own club Corduff bringing a team up from underage, but this would have been my first manager job.
‘I looked after the Ardee teams for the past few years and a good few of the Glyde lads came through the school during that time, so I had fair idea of the talent that was there.
‘Peter said they were looking for a manager and asked would I sit down with them, so I said why not?
‘Morale was low, but the talent was always there. They were relegated in league and champion- ship, but they
were miss- ing key menmen and the season before the went down dragged on well into the winter due to an appeal, so they only had about four weeks off going into 2016.
‘That all took it’s toll in the end and when you get on a slippery slope it’s hard to recover.’
In stark contrast to the travails of 2016 , Glyde are undefeated this term under Gilsenan.
‘You have to hand it to the lads they really responded to the adversity. I think if you include the winter league [Kevin Mullen Shield], they have played 21, won 20 and drawn one, so that’s bad.’
While everything went pretty much to plan in the championship up to the semi-final, the ease with which Glyde dispatched Roche Emmets took everyone by surprise and will see them start Sunday’s final as favourites.
But their manager sees differently.
‘Yeah I’ve heard people saying that, but I don’t know. Glen Emmets have been in a couple of finals in recent years and they’ve been Division 2 this year where every game was a really good test for them.
‘A lot of our games were very one-sided which is the nature of Division 3.’
In fact, Gilsenan feels that winning promotion was probably just as important as clinching Christy Bellew on Sunday.
‘A few of the lads that are getting closer to retirement probably see the championship as the big one because they have never won one, but playing at a higher level week in, week out is so imprtant for the younger lads coming through, so that was our first big goal and thankfully we achieved that.
‘But look, we want to win on Sunday too. That would be the icing on the cake.’ it a bit GLEN Emmets boss Kevin Barry is hoping a season in Division 2, coupled with the pain of last year’s final defeat to St Kevin’s, can propel his team to JFC glory on Sunday afternoon.
Since winning the 2012 decider, Emmets have come out on the wrong end of two finals, but despite that shock defeta to St Kevin’s last term, 2016 was still a watershed for the Tullyallen club.
‘We play Division 2 football and it probably showed in the end against Dunleer in the end,’ Barry said.’We learned so much about the squad and the club this year in Division 2. It was a massive achievement to actually stay up there.
‘So no matter what happens on Sunday we’re there for another year and that’s going to bring younger lads on and it’ll bring the whole club on as well. There’s a lot of work being done at underage level and while that might take four or five years to bear fruit, we’re going in the right direction.’
But the pain of that defeat 12 months ago still clearly wrankles and Barry hopes it will drive his players on.
‘We said 53 weeks ago that we wanted to get back to the final and that’s what we’ve done, that’s the most important thing.
‘Look we were very, very lucky both days against Dunleer. We didn’t take our chances in the replay, but we’re back where we wanted to be and that’s the main thing.’
Those two tight and tense semi-final clashes with Dunleer will surely stand to Emmetts on Sunday and Barry was delighted with the poise and resolve his players showed.
‘We learned a lot against Dunleer over the last couple of weeks. They really pinned us to our collar and we definitely got of jail in the drawn game.
‘But these guys never give up. They were nine points down in Drogheda and didn’t give up. They showed a lot of composure in the replay and maybe should have had the game wrapped up a bit earlier, but we got there in the end and that’s the main thing. But it was a backs day in the conditions I suppose.’
Glyde will be a step up on anything Emmets have faced in this year’s championship, but they have been playing teams of similar calire in the league all season and Barry trusts his troops to produce on the big day.
‘They’re undefeated this year and it’s hard to break that kind of winning momentum. But look, I think we have lads in there who will give everything and deliver a performance.
‘The main thing is to produce a performance on the big day. We didn’t do it last year, but hopefully we can put that right. Sunday will tell the tale anyway.’