LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan
Glen 1-14
Kilmacud 2-10
PLAYED IN THE sort of fog that only seems to make appearances in documentaries about Jack the Ripper, Glen avenged all the hurt and disappointment of their All-Ireland defeat to Kilmacud Crokes last year with an incredible 1-14 to 2-10 victory.
Momentum shifted dramatically in the favour of Kilmacud during the second half with an unanswered 1-4 drawing them level with five minutes of normal time remaining.
The final score of that run was a stupendous pass by Shane Walsh, finished to the net by Hugh Kenny.
A couple more points were traded but deep into injury time, a high press by Glen led to Conor Glass clawing the ball out of Andrew McGowan’s grasp. It fell loose to Ethan Doherty to tap into an empty net.
With three of the four additional minutes played and having gone four points up, Doherty felt entitled to head off in celebration. On the line, manager Malachy O’Rourke allowed himself a brief moment of extrovert behaviour.
But instantly, the ball was down the other end of the field. Walsh lobbed it towards the Glen goal and it evaded everyone to rest in the net.
It was Walsh himself that was presented with the final opportunity. With plenty of time, he almost took too much care of the shot and it crossed the face of goal and drifted wide.
Connlan Bradley’s kickout was in the air when referee Conor Lane blew for full time to the shrieks and roars of disbelief and delight of the huge Glen attendance in the estimated attendance of 10,000.
The backdrop of the game naturally billed this as a revenge mission after Kilmacud won the title having had an extra player for the final play of last year’s decider.
What was at stake was immense. For Crokes, this was a chance to go into the Ulster province and plant a flag; to back up their 2023 Andy Merrigan win.
The radio discussion during the journey to the match held the consensus view that there would be no way the game could finish with 30 players on the pitch, that the emotion involved would push people over the edge.
“We weren’t really looking at it like that at all,” said victorious Glen manager O’Rourke.
“We have parked last year’s game a long time ago. We just wanted to get a really good performance
“We were looking at what areas of the game we needed to be good at to beat Kilmacud. It wasn’t anything to do with Kilmacud last year.”
It transpired differently. For Glen, this was revenge as a dish best served in freezing fog. With an iron will and discipline that pushed them into a commanding 0-9 to 0-4 lead at the break, it wasn’t until the 29th minute until they committed a foul for a tackle.
With visibility poor and getting worse as the first half wore on, the defending All-Ireland champions made the early running.
They might have been in for a goal as early as the third minute but when Craig Dias had sight of goal and pulled the trigger, Ciaran McFaul materialised out of the gloom for a full-length dive, with Luke Ward scooping up the loose ball to put Crokes in front.
Two minutes later, Shane Cunningham set up Mark O’Leary to double the lead.
Then came the response. Ethan Doherty played Danny Tallon in to open Glen’s scoring from play and he added two more frees, Conor Glass and Jody McDermott being fouled for the awards by referee Lane.
Glen might have had a sniff of goal. A turnover in attack with the Kilmacud players pushed up and goalkeeper David Higgins off his line was risky. The ball was quickly worked to Jack Doherty in space but he touched the ball on the ground for Crokes to escape.
Shane Walsh got off the mark by executing a high solo dummy to his right on the edge of the Glen ‘D’, before shifting his weight back and curling over with his left.
From then, Glen had a period of sustained dominance for the last 13 minutes of the half, outscoring Croke 0-6 to 0-1.
Emmet Bradley chalked up one from play and a free. Man of the match Michael Warnock advanced to clip one over and later set up McFaul. The final score arrived from Glass.
Glen’s lead actually went to 0-11 to 0-4 with the two opening scores of the second half, but then came the fightback from Kilmacud as Glen appeared to shrink into themselves.
Points from Cian O’Connor, Paul Mannion twice from play and a free that was initially waved wide by the umpire before being corrected by the referee, and a Walsh ‘45’ got the ball rolling before Walsh played in Kenny for the equalising goal.
Alex Doherty blasted over when a goal was on to retrieve the lead for Glen, before Crokes goalkeeper Higgins once again levelled.
And then, the drama like you wouldn’t believe.
In the end, with all the punches thrown and bodies strewn across the pitch, Glen were left standing.
Crokes manager Robbie Brennan excelled in his post-match interviews, stating, “I don’t want it to come across as me saying anything else as Glen were by far the better team and if we were to lose to anyone this year, and people mightn’t agree or believe me, but I was glad it was them after all that happened last year.
“They deserve their shot at it now and I hope they go on and win it.”
One of the finest games we’ve never seen.
Scorers for Glen: Danny Tallon 0-5, (4f), Ethan Doherty 1-0, Emmett Bradley 0-3, (2f), Michael Warnock, Eunan Mulholland, Ciaran McFaul, Cathal Mulholland, Conor Glass, Alex Doherty 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kilmacud: Shane Walsh 1-2, 0-1 ‘45’, Hugh Kenny 1-0, Paul Mannion 0-4 (2f), David Higgins, Cian O’Connor, Mark O’Leary, Luke Ward 0-1 each
Glen
1. Connlan Bradley
2. Michael Warnock, 3. Ryan Dougan, 4. Connor Carville
20. Jody McDermott, 6. Ciaran McFaul, 7. Cathal Mulholland
8. Conor Glass, 9. Emmett Bradley
10. Ethan Doherty, 11. Jack Doherty, 5. Eunan Mulholland
25. Tiarnan Flanagan, 14. Danny Tallon, 15. Conleth McGuckian
Subs:
12. Conor Convery for Jack Doherty (22)
13. Alex Doherty for Dougan (40)
Kilmacud Crokes
1. David Higgins
19. James Murphy, 3. Theo Clancy, 4. Dan O’Brien
8. Mark O’Leary, 2. Rory O’Carroll, 6. Andrew McGowan
23. Brian Sheehy, 9. Craig Dias
10. Shane Horan, 14. Shane Cunningham, 13. Dara Mullin
11. Paul Mannion, 21. Luke Ward, 15. Shane Walsh
Subs:
5. Cian O’Connor for Ward (HT)
12. Hugh Kenny for Sheehy (HT)
20. Darragh Dempsey for Cunningham (43)
17. Padraic Purcell for Mullin (61)
Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)
