Conor Glass looking forward to 'crack at' old rivals Kilmacud Crokes

The sides will be reunited in an All-Ireland semi-final next month.

Conor Glass of Glen before the AIB Ulster GAA Football Senior Club Championship Final against Scotstown. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Conor Glass can't wait to 'have a rattle' at old foes Kilmacud Crokes again but has insisted the back-to-back Ulster champions won't be chasing revenge.

Last January's All-Ireland club finalists will meet again on January 6/7, this time at the semi-final stage and at a venue yet to be decided.

Croke Park remains an option though with this weekend's hurling semi-finals both being staged at provincial venues, a mid-way point like Cavan or Newry would appear more likely.

Glass acknowledged that there will be plenty of 16th man talk ahead of the encounter, a reference to the controversy that surrounded Crokes' use of an extra player for a period late in last January's final.

Glen initially objected to the result of that match and a replay was ordered though the Maghera club subsequently withdrew from the appeal process, leaving Crokes as champions.

Asked if this was the game Glen wanted all year, Glass nodded.

"In the back of the head, of course, aye, absolutely," he said. "Any defeat is sour, any time you get beat by an opposition you're like, 'I'd love another crack at them'. So it's just another defeat regardless of how everything unfolded, it was just a defeat for us and we're looking to get another crack at them."

Glass maintained that the circumstances of last season's loss won't be used as motivation ahead of the rematch.

"Obviously it will be brought up in revision and stuff, we're going to have to do our homework on Kilmacud and learn from what we did last year and what did and didn't work for us," continued the 2022 All-Star. "So obviously it will be brought up but it won't be brought up in terms of negativity of, 'We have to right a wrong, the 16th man', all that sort of stuff.

"That's just not how we're going to go about it. We're going to be there and we're going to play our best 15 against their best 15 and have a crack at it."

Glass was to the fore again in Armagh on Sunday where Glen defeated Scotstown 0-13 to 0-11 to retain the Ulster title.

That was a gripping encounter they couldn't look beyond though Glass admitted that pushing on for national success has been a big driving force for the team.

"100 percent," he agreed. "To put it bluntly, of course it is. I know players put it down as 'Ah, just focus on the next game' but our next game is against the reigning All-Ireland champions. There's no better challenge for us. Our focus has obviously been on Derry and Ulster and now it's going to be on Kilmacud. It's obviously fantastic, we get to have a rattle at them again."

The success of Glass for club and county since his return from Australia and an AFL career in September of 2020 is nothing short of remarkable.

With his club alone he has claimed a three-in-a-row of county titles and back-to-back Ulster crowns. Meanwhile, with Derry, he has collected Ulster titles in 2022 and 2023 and a Division 3 league medal in 2021.

His first game for Derry after returning was the 2020 league tie against Longford and he has played in every league and Championship game for the Oak Leaf County since, helping to secure promotion to Division 1 earlier this year.

In all, that's 37 inter-county league or championship games that he has participated in, starting 35 of them, and he has experienced defeat just six times.

"It's honestly mental," said Glass of the eight trophies he has won with club and county since coming home. "I was chatting to Jack (Doherty) and Ethan (Doherty) after the game, and a few of the other boys that have had success with Derry as well and the funny thing is, the first 10 seconds after the final whistle is pure elation and then it's like, 'Okay, I've felt this before'. But look, you don't get sick of winning either. When you have a group of players and a community that just wants to better themselves each and every day, and each and every week, you're just going to be successful and thankfully we are."

The big positive for Glass at this stage of Glen's development is their sheer refusal to accept defeat and their ability to eke out tight wins, like they did against Scotstown. They clearly feel comfortable within chaos.

"Very comfortable," nodded Glass. "It just shows the character that we have in the team and the players who can step up in those big moments."