Glen Rovers were a lifetime without a county title

Some weeks later, Michael Moynihan looks back at Glen Rovers’ county title win

It’s a few weeks ago now but the memory remains pin-sharp.

Glen Rovers had been 26 years without a county title, but with the clock ticking past the 60 minutes in this year’s decider they weren’t going to be caught by Sarsfields.

Six points was too big a gap to be overhauled, and the achievement began to sink in for the Glen’s Stephen McDonnell.

“It was cool,” says McDonnell, confirmed this week as the new Cork senior hurling captain.

“Some feeling. The game was still on but I was looking at the boys, they were looking back... it was done. Relief, excitement. The hard work paid off. Sometimes when people say you can’t do something — and plenty of people told us that after we lost so heavily last year in the final, it drives you on.

“Twenty-six years. Sure 1989, that was the year I was born. A lifetime is right.”

The Glen were 16 points in arrears at the close of the 2014 county final. McDonnell says they were fired to atone for that, but there were practical benefits to the experience. This year they had all of that in the memory bank as they prepared. Everything was different this year.

“We were a lot more comfortable. We had the experience from the previous year, and that’s very hard to put into words without going through it. Your feelings getting on the bus the day of a county final... at least you’ve been there.

“You know what to expect — even the week running into the game, the fact you can visualise it from the previous year.

“It’s all got to be a help. It gives you the ability to prepare correctly. You know the scenario involved.

“We knew that we just had to keep giving performances of the standard we got against Midleton and Newtownshandrum — that if we could continue that we’d have a chance. And we knew we could bring that level of performance. Whatever about the result, we knew we’d bring that to the county final.”

The reaction of the supporters was emotional, to put it mildly.

McDonnell accepts having a few weeks’ break before the Munster club championship has meant they’ve had time to process the achievement.

That’s helped ahead of their trip to Waterford to play Ballygunner tomorrow: “100%. That break was a huge help. We celebrated — a few people are probably still celebrating, though the players aren’t, for us that’s all settled down now. Training kicked back in and we had a good game last week against the Defence Forces, a good run-out, so we’re looking forward to the game.

“Is the Munster club unknown territory? I don’t know if I’d call it that. I played five years of Fitzgibbon, so I’d know the scene in terms of winter hurling and so on. There’s probably an element of the shackles being off in the sense that winning the county was a big deal for us.

“A lot of people said we couldn’t do it, that we’d never do it, so in that sense everything from here on in is a bonus. We’re not putting ourselves under too much pressure. We’ll try to to perform the way we did on the run-in to the county final, and that game itself, and see where that brings us.”

He pays a warm tribute to the backroom team that steered them to glory.

“Dave (Moriarty, trainer) is very good — he’s been around a while, he’s very experienced, so the players trust him and listen to him. If the session or couple of sessions are very hard, then we know he’s got a good reason for that. We’re very lucky to have him. The other lads — each of them has something to offer, they complement each other. Ian (Lynam, selector) is a very good coach, very good speaker, motivator. Richie (Kelleher, manager) is a good speaker as well, but he manages things and keeps an overview of what we’re doing. Des (Cullinane, selector) has a wealth of experience, very intelligent, so the three of them, and Dave, get us in the best shape, mentally and physically, for every game.”

They’ll need to be ready tomorrow. Ballygunner are the favourites for the game. “I don’t check the bookies,” says McDonnell. “I presume Ballygunner are the favourites, they’ve won a lot of counties in the last few years, they’re experienced, they’re at home, but we’ll see what happens. We’ll bring our best game and so will they, but we feel we’ve a good team.”