Glen look set to join exclusive Oak Leaf ‘four in a row’ club

O’Neill’s Derry Senior Football Championship

Glen (holders) v Newbridge 3-30pm at Celtic Park, Sunday.

Referee: Martin McErleane

WINNING the county senior football championship is the pinnacle of any season but to aim for a fourth successive title is beyond most club’s dreams.

On Sunday, the Watty Graham’s of Glen will be hot favourites to emulate the feats of Slaughtneil 2014-2017 and Bellaghy 1958-61. But they had a walkover in 1961 as Ballymaguigan conceded when the final date was not changed to when they would have the late and great Jim McKeever available.

Ballinderry, twice, had a hat trick of wins 1980-82 and 2011-13. They were undone by a late Gerald Bradley goal in 2014 and that started the Slaughtneil run. The Emmett’s drive for five ended with a defeat by Eoghan Rua in the 2018 semi final.

The first recorded county final was in 1907 when the GAA was mainly in and around the city. Eire Og were the winners. Eire Og, now defunct, had to wait until 1952 for their next title when they beat Desertmartin in the final.

Seven years later Clan Chonail, probably a Donegal team, beat Emmets 1-4 to 1-2 in the final at Celtic Park. The title was achieved by Buncrana in 1930 but it appears that the Buncrana team was actually made up of Free State soldiers stationed at Dunree. Two of the Buncrana team were All Ireland medal winners with Cavan from two year previous.

Burt also added to the Donegal winners. Until the mid thirties Innshowen was ceded to Derry for GAA purposes due to travel distances.

When the GAA spread into the rural areas teams like Glenullin, Magherafelt, Newbridge and Ballinascreen changed the direction of cup winners.

Newbridge Break The Cycle Since 2018 only three teams have contested the final of the John McLaughlin Cup - Glen, Slaughtneil and Magherafelt. Magherafelt won the 2019 title with victory over Glen. In the Covid year of 2020 Slaughtneil got the better of Magherafelt in the final at Bellaghy.

Enter Glen in 2021 beating Slaughtneil and the same in 2022. Magherafelt were the finalists in 2023 but they failed to stop the Glen bandwagon.

In the three winning finals Glen have just conceded 0-7 in each but scored a combined total of 3-36 in return. Now the green jerseys of Newbridge will be on display in this final. They last won the title in 1989 beating Castledawson. Their last appearance was in 1991 when they were beaten by 3-5 to 0-4 by Dungiven at Ballinascreen.

Youth The Cause Of Glen’s Rise Despite being from a town and surrounding area with a strong GAA ethos Glen never really got off the ground at senior level until just six years ago as a strong senior force.

Their previous best in championship football was to take the intermediate title in 1980 and 1983. They spent two seasons in intermediate football after losing a relegation play off to Newbridge in 2012. They fell well below expectations in those two intermediate years losing to Foreglen in the 2013 final and to Castledawson in the semi final the following year.

Winning four Derry and Ulster under 18 titles in succession between 2011-2014 took some time to kick in at senior level. The bulk of those teams are the backbone of the present side that has their three Derry, two Ulster and one All Ireland titles to their credit.

Newbridge Ups And Downs From their last title in 1989 Newbridge alternated between senior and intermediate. They won the intermediate in 2007 and 2017. Since that they became a good senior team.

Newbridge, for all their success dating back to the great Gribbin brothers era, come for a small corner of the county covering less than 20 square miles. They have won ten senior titles in 1937, 1940, 1945, 1948, 1955, 1966, 1967, 1970 and 1989. After their foundation in 1926 they would have played in the Antrim leagues due to lack of games in Derry.

How They Got To The Final A little luck can help a team along and Malachy O’Rourke’s Glen got a decent helping in the quarter final against Lavey when they squeezed home by the minimum and got there by 1-11 to 0-13.

In the semi final they looked poor enough in the first half against old foes Slaughtneil but took control in the second to win by 1-9 to 0-9 thanks to a Jody McDermott goal late in the game. Notably, they seem to save their best for the second half of games.

Newbridge beat Bellaghy by 0-18 to 0-14 in the quarter final but it never should have gone to extra time as the ‘Bridge were the better team all along.

They were outsiders in the semi final against Magherafelt in a forgettable encounter but dominated the second half with a late Shane McGrogan goal getting them through.

Considering that one of their key players - Padraig McGrogan - has missed the campaign due to a long term injury it is a notable achievement for the Sean O’Leary’s to reach the decider.

Newbridge Must Not Sit Back If Newbridge decide to sit back and defend against Glen it will be a major mistake; there is no team better at unravelling a packed defence than Glen.

Ethan Doherty can carry the ball through the tightest gaps and in the middle of the field Conor Glass and Emmett Bradley will pick out players with their razor sharp passing.

No doubt the Newbridge management will have noticed that Glen tend to be slow starters. They trailed both Lavey and Slaughtneil at half time but came on strong in the second.

There is no man better at figuring out the opposition’s weakness than Malachy O’Rourke who will be in charge of Glen for the last time in the Derry championship but he will stay with them if they go into the Ulster championship and beyond.

If Newbridge take the game to Glen in the first half and get a decent lead they will have a chance, albeit a slim one. O’Rourke is a master at timing his team’s run to perfection and he seems to be on the money again as the Watty’s showed in the second half against their local rivals Slaughtneil. When Glen attack they have defenders like Michael Warnock and Ryan Dougan driving through to support the front men.

There is a togetherness about this Newbridge team. They will have the three Doherty brothers and the five McGrogans who are all related. They will look at past failures like two years ago when Glen blew them away with a powerful last quarter performance.

Ciaran McFaul is still a doubt for the champions and has not figured in the knockout stages so far. He did warm up against Slaughtneil but did not look as if he was going to play. A bit of psychology perhaps!

Conor Doherty is the player who makes the ‘Bridge tick. He was blotted out to a great degree by Eoin McEvoy in the semi final but when he did escape McEvoy’s attention he set up the match winning goal for Shane McGroggan. Newbridge will battle all the way but this Glen team just seem to come up with the answers no matter what.

Glen Panel: Connlan Bradley, Michael Warnock, Ryan Dougan, Conor Carville, Tiernan Flanagan, Danny McDermott, Jody McDermott, Conor Glass, Emmett Bradley, Conor Convery, Eunan Mulholland, Stevie O’Hara, Conleth McGuckian, Danny Tallon, Ethan Doherty, Andrew Warnock, Cathal Mulholland, Adam McGonigle, Ciaran McFaul, Cahir McCabe, Conor Gallagher, Jack Doherty, Johnny McGuckian, Marc Dixon, Paul Gunning, Odhran Molloy, Joe McKenna, Ruadhri McAleese and Paddy Walls.

Newbridge Panel: James Gribbin, Nathan Rocks. Killian Burke, Ciaran Brooks, Mark McGrogan, Mark Doherty, Patrick McMullan, Conor McGrogan, Aodhan Young, Conor McAteer, Callum McGrogan, Odhran McGlone, Shane McGrogan, Oisin Doherty, Shea McAteer, Jude Diamond, Dessie McColgan, Dylan McGreevy, Aidan McGlone, Declan McKeever, Ronan Doherty.