Cork Premier SHC: Glen Rovers looking to 'right the wrongs of the last two years'

That year’s Cork hurling decider brought together the Glen and Sarsfields, the same final pairing as in 2010 and 2014, with both of those previous two meetings going the way of Sars.

Brosnan remembers the pressure on the Glen players in the run-in to the final, recalling also their absolute determination not to be left empty-handed for a third time.

“There was a lot of pressure on us going into the 2015 game because you were looking at never winning a county after losing three finals.” 

Of course, no third successive defeat materialised. Richie Kelleher’s charges buried their final demons to score a seven-point win and bring an end to the club’s 26-year wait for Cork honours.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and the similarities to 2015 are many.

The Glen, having been edged out in 2019 and again last year, are bidding to avoid county final heartbreak for a third consecutive season.

“It is up to us to right the wrongs of the last two years. I am confident in our ability, confident that we have a big performance in us,” continued 30-year-old Brosnan, the team's second-highest scorer this season after Patrick Horgan.

“We have an excellent record in quarter-finals and semi-finals, but nobody will remember you for that. It is about making sure that we are three county final wins from seven appearances, rather than two in seven, and to make sure we do bring home the Cup.” 

A sixth county final appearance in eight years and a seventh since 2010 for the team’s older members looked something of a pipe dream following their opening round hammering at the hands of Douglas just over two months ago now.

Brosnan heard the talk that surfaced in the wake of the Douglas thumping that this was a Glen team whose graph was on the wane. But in the same way he saw no need to panic following their first-round setback, he paid zero heed to those writing off the Glen.

“In 2015, we lost our championship opener to Ballymartle. I remember talking to a couple of people after that game and they were saying we had no hope, given the Ballymartle defeat had followed on from the previous year’s 16-point county final defeat to Sars. That bit of chatter was there again after the Douglas game.

“Our group, though, we believe in ourselves, we know the fella next to us is going to fight for everything. Once the house was in order, we knew we were still a good side and we were confident we'd pull through.

“Every game since the Douglas game has been knockout. That safety blanket being taken away actually helped us as we knew what was at stake every time we went out. We’ve ground out results. Days like the one against Imokilly, it was pure workrate and guts that prevailed.” 

They are rarely, if ever, found wanting in those latter two departments. That said, it is far too simplistic to attribute the Glen’s unmatched consistency in returning to the final year after year after year to the old relics of hard work, spirit, and resilience.

There’s far more to it.

“Myself, Maccy (Stephen McDonnell), and Hoggy were having a conversation in the dressing-room after training the other day and we were talking about David Cuningham, Gavin Moylan, Graham Callanan, serious legends and fellas we always looked up to, but they retired and there were no retirements parties.

“Graham Callanan (2015 and 2016 county winning captain) was a Trojan here and you see Robert Downey then slotting seamlessly into his position. And you have Eoin Downey coming behind Robert. We are having underage success and lads are coming through off the back of that, that’s the foundation of the club. There is always somebody there to fill a gap if someone retires.

“Everyone kinda looks at us and says we are an old team, but the average age of the team is 25. You have your older members, but you have your younger members coming through too.

“I am looking there at our minor team winning the county this year and you are going to have lads from that coming through, people like Eoin O'Leary. We are looking forward to next year and having more options.” 

But first, though, the small matter of Sunday and stopping an unwanted three-in-a-row.