Glen used 2023 hurt to earn spot back in Cork's Premier grade, insists Mulcahy 

BACK IN THE BIG TIME: Glen Rovers' manager Tomas Mulcahy. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

It was a different type of success for Glen Rovers in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, not they type of success they’ve been used to in their rich history, not they type of success they’d want to be experiencing again anytime soon, but it was a success that they badly needed. 

Their manager, Tomás Mulcahy, has seen nearly everything during his illustrious career, and he explained what their Senior ‘A’ hurling county meant to the Glen.

“Overall, the team performance, we couldn’t fault anyone in terms of our efforts and stuff like that as well. It’s been like that all year. Since the start of the year. We hurt so badly from last year. I said it to a lot of people, and even the team inside, there’re people upstairs who are going to be very, very happy. 

"People have rang me from overseas and stuff like that. And maybe outside of Glen Rovers, people probably didn’t realise what it meant to us to go down. The hurt.

“It was probably my worst day in sport. To actually be relegated, to be part of the set-up last year that was relegated against Kanturk. There was never a worse feeling. It was absolutely horrible. 

"Not just because we lost the match, but because of the history, and the tradition, and what it means to Glen Rovers and the northside of the city. The guys that played with that jersey for so many years. The guys that represented Cork for so many, many years. They would never have thought there would be a day, in the 100-odd years of history, that we were going to playing the level below the top senior competition.” 

Now that they’re back where they belong, Mulcahy knows that the Glen must stay there, and he knows that the future is potentially bright, and he also knows they won’t be resting on their laurels.

“I’ve said it to the lads since the start of the year. Nobody is going to hand you anything. You got to go and earn it, and I think today we earned it. We had it, maybe, a little bit too easy, coming into the semi-final stages with some of our matches in terms of actually the nature of the wins by the margins and stuff like that as well. 

"We got a real test against Castlelyons, to be fair to them. We’d no match for a month and we kind of felt then coming into Páirc Uí Chaoimh, playing that match, was going to bring us on a tonne. And I think you saw that today.

“The big thing is, now that we’ve got back up there, is to stay there. The omens are good, in terms of very good and successful underage structures. Three minor counties I think in the last four years as well. 

"A lot of talented young lads coming through and keeping a couple of the older guys together maybe and bringing a couple of those guys together we should be up there, maybe challenging next year, again. And that’s where we want to be.”