Every Sunday night for the past fifteen or so years, Glen’s long serving PRO Conor Molloy has been busy, gathering his facts and figures to send around the various press channels in the county.
It’s a labour of love but more recently his press role has coincided with Watty Graham’s underage rejuvenation.
Sunday past was another such occasion, long after Jack Doherty’s goal and Ciaran McFaul’s victory speech, ‘Brogie’ was back in the zone getting all his information sent across the various communication mediums. It’s a long way from the fax machine days!
That’s how clubs work. Everyone has their function. It’s like a chain, it’s only as strong as the weakest link. We caught up with Glen’s PRO to get his thought’s the latest success.
“The general feeling in the club is pride. These lads have given us so many great days in the past ten years and hopefully it doesn't end here.”
Molloy’s record books make for delightful reading. “Ulster titles aren't easy come and by our counting we've now won 10 Ulster titles in 10 years. It's very important to celebrate whatever success comes your way, as we suffered plenty of barren years.”
Enda Gormley’s team were red hot favourites going into Sunday’s game. It’s far from ideal because in any championship some of the big hitters can come a cropper. Molloy was confident the Glen players were in the right frame of mind.
“Even though everybody had us as favourites, that certainly wasn't the feeling of our players or management. St John's gave us a scare at the semi-final stage last year and we knew they were very keen for revenge.”
“Thankfully our lads have gained a mountain of experience, don't listen to the hype and just perform on the pitch.”
Glen has always had the numbers to compete at the top level but after a spell in the doldrums playing grade B football the club has turned the corner. We asked Molloy what has changed to kick start this unprecedented spell of dominance.
“The underage success is probably down to both a special bunch of players coming through at once and also a group of coaches who recognized that hard work and effort was the only way forward.”
“It's often said that it's a sign of lunacy to keep doing the same things and expect different results. Our coaches try to implement one style of play throughout all underage groups with a special emphasis on discipline. Thankfully the players bought in and it has resulted in great success to date.”
With Gormley back again as senior manager this U21 group is the natural progression from the successful minor teams to Glen making the next step. It seems to be the most commonly asked question these days. Are Glen going to make the breakthrough?
“The next stage is without doubt senior football. The Under 21 competitions in Derry and Ulster have been very important as it has helped us bridge that minor to senior gap and has kept the group together.”
Glen will want their shot at a senior title but as Molloy stresses, Glen need to walk before they can run. The Derry senior championship is one of the most competitive in the country.
“We're now looking to consolidate ourselves as a solid senior team. We're very often reminded that underage success doesn't guarantee anything at senior level and that's certainly true.”
Molloy started his conversation by highlighting their pride in these young players but with his concluding statement he has thrown down the gauntlet to this U21 squad. He knows what he wants.
“The hard work is only starting for these boys now. Like every other senior club in Derry the ultimate prize in the John McLaughlin Cup.”
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