Emergency meeting jump-started Glen Rovers after 'absolutely shocking' Douglas display

Glen Rovers forwards Patrick Horgan battles Douglas defender Eoin Cadogan for the sliotar during their Co-Op Superstores Cork PSHC opener at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The Glen’s defeat served as a reality check for the side. Picture: Eddie O’Hare

The morning after the Glen’s “shocking” 11-point first round defeat to Douglas, a meeting of management and players took place in the clubhouse.

Not since the 2014 county final hammering at the hands of Sarsfields had the club endured such a sobering result and so it was agreed in the hours after the Douglas defeat that the panel would reconvene the following morning.

There was no finger-pointing during the meeting in the club hall, no blame game, the discussion instead focused on what all involved needed to do to get the Glen back to the level they had been operating at in 2019 and 2020.

“At the meeting, we decided to go back to basics, that we’d knuckle down and work hard,” manager Ian Lynam recalls of the difficult start to his first championship back in the Glen hotseat.

“We knew it was going to come down to hard work, looking after ourselves, and putting in the nasty hours.”

Although deeply disappointed at the manner of their first-round no-show, Lynam reveals there were mitigating factors in the 0-24 to 1-11 defeat.

“Preparations for that game weren’t right, we had Covid cases,” he explained.

“I was looking back on my diary there last week, we only trained four times in August and we had to cancel a couple of challenge matches. That wasn’t the right preparation going into a championship match (they played Douglas on September 11). Now, not taking away from Douglas, they played really well on the night. But we weren’t up to speed at all.”

Lynam’s assertion that the players felt they had let down everyone in the club with their performance was backed up by defender Robert Downey’s remarks to this writer earlier this week when he described the Douglas display as “absolutely shocking”.

“The players were just really down after that game. We got back at it the following Tuesday and we have been improving ever since.”

The opening round loss meant every subsequent fixture effectively became a knockout game as any second slip-up would have ended the Glen’s involvement in the race for honours. And despite first-half red cards to David Dooling in their second group game against Bishopstown and to Patrick Horgan in the quarter-final against Imokilly, the men from the northside of Cork city overcame every obstacle put in their way to weave a somewhat unlikely path back to the final.

“The lads have shown great character,” the manager continued.

“Losing Patrick against Imokilly, the lads stepped up. A lot of these guys are heading into their sixth final in eight years, some of them even played in 2010. We do have an experienced team that is full of character.”

As has been plenty mentioned since their semi-final win over Sarsfields, the Glen are bidding to avoid a third consecutive county final defeat this weekend. But Lynam’s desire for his players to grab this latest opportunity in front of them is not rooted in any want to avenge the 2019 and 2020 losses, rather the simple reality that this Glen group might never get back to another county final.

“My own career, I was lucky enough to be a sub for the ‘89 final, but it was 26 years before we won a county again after that. I said to the lads the other day, don’t take this for granted. It doesn’t come around every year, even though we have been lucky enough to be in the last three finals.

“I know in players’ minds that they are thinking back on 2019 and 2020 and it is something they don’t want to experience a third year in-a-row. It is probably a motivating factor for the lads, but we don’t mention it. We are looking forward, not backward.”

Mark Dooley is the Glen’s sole injury concern ahead of Sunday’s decider, the inside forward breaking a bone in his hand during the quarter-final win over Imokilly. As a result, he did not feature in the semi-final a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, Cork GAA has reminded patrons that this weekend’s hurling final double-headers at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon are ticket-only events and that tickets will not be available for sale at the venue. Those planning to attend either set of finals are advised to purchase their tickets, which are available on the Cork GAA website, as early as possible.