All-Ireland SFC club final: Watty Graham’s Glen 2-10 St Brigid’s 1-12
Storm Isha played its part in this All-Ireland club senior football final at a blustery Croke Park, but it was nothing compared to the impact of Conor Glass who proved an unstoppable force as he inspired Glen to a whirlwind comeback.
St Brigid’s will forever have regrets at how this decider turned out, because for so much of the contest the Roscommon champions appeared to have one hand on the Andy Merrigan Cup in front of 18,567 spectators.
But the difference in the end was Glass. And while it might seem oversimplified to toss the outcome of this club final on the shoulders of one player, rarely has anybody lofted a team upon their back and carried them over the line like Glass did on Sunday.
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His 58th minute goal changed the entire game and ultimately led to Glen’s first ever All-Ireland club title.
St Brigid’s, aiming to add to their 2013 All-Ireland victory, were 1-11 to 1-7 ahead after 55 minutes, but Glen outscored the Connacht champions 1-3 to 0-1 over the remainder of the encounter.
Glen had some atrocious shots at goal, finishing with 11 wides compared to two by St Brigid’s, while the Derry side also had five efforts drop short and others blocked down during an error-strewn second half. From their first 11 shots of the second half, Glen’s return was 0-1 – a converted 45 by Glass.
They had also been reduced to 14-men for a 10-minute period when Cathal Mulholland received a black card in the 48th minute. The prospect of losing two All-Ireland finals in 12 months looked very realistic.
So, when Conleth McGuckian popped a quick free in the direction of Glass with just two minutes of normal time remaining, and three points separating the sides, it was clear Glen would need something special to wriggle out of the hole in which they found themselves.
Glass collected possession just on the edge of the D, broke a heavy tackle and from the 20-metre line drilled the ball to the back of the St Brigid’s net, 2-8 to 1-11. As he spun away to jog back towards the middle of the field, Mulholland returned from the sin-bin, the pendulum had swung.
“After they went four points up and we had the black card, I thought we were dead and buried,” said Glass afterwards. “Our shot selection all day was terrible, but we just got on with it - short term memory, forget about those misses, and focus on what we can control. What we could control was the next kickout, the next attack, that sort of way.
“It shows the character this team has. I was lucky to get on the end of it, I put my foot through it, and we kicked on from there. Here, we are All-Ireland champions, it is a pretty good feeling.”
If it was euphoria for Glen then it was devastation for St Brigid’s, who had played the better football all afternoon but ultimately left Croke Park empty-handed.
Shortly after Glen’s second goal, Ben O’Carroll – who had been hugely influential – had a shot blocked down by the diving Mulholland. Glen worked the ball back up the field and Conor Convery won a free, which was tapped over by Emmet Bradley in the first minute of injury-time. It was the first time Glen had led since the opening moments of the match.
From the resulting kickout after Bradley’s free, Glass demonstrated his AFL skills with a superb leap to fist the ball back towards the scoring zone where McGuckian put Glen two points ahead.
To St Brigid’s credit, they tried to find a way out of the tempest O’Carroll won a free, which Shane Cunnane converted to leave the minimum between the teams again. A cynical foul by McGuckian, for which he received a black card, to drag down Brian Stack provided St Brigid’s with one final, difficult chance to get level but Cunnane’s free from the 45-metre line pulled wide.
“There’s character there, I know they’re very good footballers, that was never in doubt, but I think they’ve showed tremendous character,” said St Brigid’s manager Jerome Stack. “They’re young, they’re not beaten though, they’ll keep coming back.”
St Brigid’s had the momentum for much of the game. O’Carroll – who was involved in either scoring or creating 1-7 of his side’s tally – proved a real handful and early in the second half Glen were forced to change markers, moving Ryan Dougan over instead of Michael Warnock, and the switch was effective.
St Brigid’s were 0-8 to 0-4 ahead approaching half-time but they conceded 1-1 in the closing stages of the opening period to go in level at the turnaround, 0-8 to 1-5.
But they hit 1-1 in the first five minutes after the restart to reestablish their superiority – Derwin slapping home the goal after a nice offload by O’Carroll. Derwin also scored the point, a delicious effort off the outside of his right boot which curled like a golf shot.
It was a point which made you feel this was going to be St Brigid’s day, only for the leadership of Glass to determine otherwise.
“I definitely questioned over the last 12 months, would we ever get there?” said Glass afterwards. “Although I didn’t say that, those thoughts go through your mind, 100 per cent. We can say we are All-Ireland champions.”
That can never be taken away from Watty Graham’s Glen now.
WATTY GRAHAM’S GLEN: Connlan Bradley; Michael Warnock (0-1), Ryan Dougan, Connor Carville; Eunan Mulholland, Ciarán McFaul (0-1), Cathal Mulholland; Conor Glass (1-2, one 45), Emmet Bradley (0-4, three frees); Ethan Doherty (0-1), Jody McDermott (1-0), Tiarnan Flanagan; Alex Doherty, Danny Tallon, Conleth McGuckian (0-1). Subs: Conor Convery for E Mulholland (26 mins); Stevie O’Hara for Carville (44 mins); Cahir McCabe for Tallon (55 mins)
ST BRIGID’S: Cormac Sheehy; Robbie Dolan, Brian Stack (0-1), Pearse Frost; Ruaidhrí Fallon (0-2), Alan Daly, Ronan Stack; Eddie Nolan (0-2), Shane Cunnane (0-1, one free); Bobby Nugent (0-1), Paul McGrath, Conor Hand; Ben O’Carroll (0-3 two frees, one mark), Brian Derwin (1-1), Ciarán Sugrue (0-1). Subs: John Cunningham for Derwin (45 mins); Conor Gleeson for Nugent (56 mins)
REFEREE: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)
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