AIB Ulster Club SFC preliminary round: St Eunan’s (Donegal) 1-4 Glen (Derry) 0-8
MALACHY O’Rourke will be coming up against some familiar faces when his Glen side goes toe to toe with Scotstown on December 5, after yesterday’s late, late show in Letterkenny got their first Ulster club campaign up and running.
The Watty Graham’s trailed by two to a dogged, defensive St Eunan’s with less than 10 minutes remaining, and when Conleith McGuckian saw his penalty saved by Shaun Patton as added time loomed, it looked as though it might not be the Derry champions’ day.
But after a wonderful score from corner-back Michael Warnock, St Eunan’s gifted Glen the opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying moments - a defensive mix-up leading to a free for Danny Tallon, who duly converted what proved to be the winning score.
Their reward is an Ulster quarter-final showdown with the Monaghan champions at Celtic Park, where O’Rourke will renew acquaintances with men he soldiered alongside during a successful stint as Farney boss.
Rory Beggan, Shane Carey, Conor McCarthy and the Hughes brothers, Darren and Kieran, all played key roles during O’Rourke’s time, which saw Monaghan claim Ulster titles in 2013 and 2015.
And the Derrylin man knows all too well the size of the challenge facing Glen the next day out.
“It’s one thing knowing them,” he smiled, “but I’ve great time for all them lads.
“Great players, great characters, I couldn’t say a bad word about them. They’ve put in massive service for myself when I was Monaghan manager, I know how much football means to them, so they’ll obviously be gunning for us.
“Scotstown have massive experience, they’ve won county titles, been in Ulster finals, and they have a great habit of knowing how to win. It’s going to be a massive task for us, they’ve serious experience compared to our boys, but we’ve two weeks to prepare and we’ll give it our best shot.
“It’s is bonus territory in a way, but we’re looking forward to it.”
O’Rourke’s men had to remain patient yesterday, and he was impressed with how Glen persevered even when the game looked to be slipping away.
“It was sort of looking like that a wee bit.
“We had missed a few chances, although St Eunan’s had as well. The penalty was obviously a massive chance for us to get our noses in front, but when you’re coming up against a quality ’keeper like Shaun Patton, you know that’s always a possibility.
“The big thing was that the boys’ heads didn’t go down, that we were ready and responded well to it, which we did.”
St Eunan’s boss Rory Kavanagh experienced some frustrating days in the Ulster club during his playing pomp, and felt their inability to capitalise when Glen lost captain Conor Carville to a black card early in the second half had come back to haunt them.
“It was a crucial stage and there was a few unforced errors, maybe a lack of composure at crucial times, because every score was a big score out there today,” said the former Donegal star, whose side lost Aaron Deeney to a black card towards the end.
“They definitely used the man up to their advantage more than we did. You have to give credit to them – they showed great heart and great bottle because things weren’t going to plan for them for long periods of the game but they came up with the answers in the end, and good luck to them.”
