Sport

Danny Hughes: Glen will have to deal with an even stronger Kilcoo

Kilcoo needed extra-time to beat Glen in last year’s Ulster Club SFC semi-final. The sides meet again in this year's final on Sunday Picture by Seamus Loughran
Kilcoo needed extra-time to beat Glen in last year’s Ulster Club SFC semi-final. The sides meet again in this year's final on Sunday Picture by Seamus Loughran Kilcoo needed extra-time to beat Glen in last year’s Ulster Club SFC semi-final. The sides meet again in this year's final on Sunday Picture by Seamus Loughran

THE Ulster Club SFC final takes place this weekend with Kilcoo and Glen facing off in an eagerly-awaited clash.

Kilcoo needed extra-time to win their clash last season before going on to win the All-Ireland against a much-fancied Kilmacud side, who have been buoyed this season by the addition of the brilliant Shane Walsh.

Both the Derry and Down men will be wary of this threat down the line but for now they must get past each other.

Make no mistake about it, Glen will believe they could been sitting today as All-Ireland champions, but this Kilcoo team were written off for a number of years and the result has been the opposite – and they have thrived on it.

So far, the Magpies’ toughest encounters have been in the Down championship, winning a quarter-final against Clonduff on penalties and the final by the minimum margin after extra-time against an unfancied Warrenpoint side who I felt had missed the boat a number of years ago.

Perhaps the familiarity in Down is a factor here but Kilcoo are the epitome of ‘getting the job done’.

It may not be pretty, but winning championships usually never are.

They are one of the best teams I have seen at keeping possession. They are experts in working the best players into the right positions and will take their time in the build-up.

They are also goal-hungry and, as they demonstrated last season, are never afraid, when they get a sniff, to hammer the back of the net.

Obviously, I know far less about Glen but it wouldn’t take a footballing genius to see that Conor Glass’s return from Australian Rules football has played a significant part in their rise to an Ulster contender.

Kilcoo have comfortably won their Ulster championship games to date, while Glen have been pushed that bit harder by the opposition.

This has its advantages and disadvantages.

Historically, though, it should be noted that this is more or less deemed irrelevant in how the Magpies approach their games. The closer the better, from their perspective.

This game will probably be won by the team that manages to minimise their mistakes.

Of course, there is a negative connotation in viewing the outcome in this manner but I cannot see it being a free-flowing, open game of football.

That is just not the way the game is played at this time of the year.

I suspect the winners will make their way into the All-Ireland final but with a strengthened Kilmacud team angered by last season’s final defeat looming, greater challenges lie ahead.

But for now this battle is for the Ulster title. It is hard to see past Kilcoo. Nothing this year suggests that they are weakened – quite the opposite, they appear stronger.

THERE are a number of positive developments deemed to have arisen during the two years we spent under government protocols with regard to Covid.

The way the GAA operates ticketing at our games is, however, not one of them.

In order to restart games at all levels, the GAA adopted a policy where numbers were severely restricted and all games became ticketed in a effort to prevent the spread of the disease as far as possible.

Since then, only home and away club league games have returned to being pay at the gate.

Most counties have adopted a ticketing system where the patron is required to purchase the tickets prior to attending a championship match, and this is also the case for all county matches.

Interestingly, the Galway county chairman revealed that they had collected over €1.4m in income from club games in the county, with just €200,000 of that coming from online sales relating to streamed live games.

He also noted that at each game, a turnstile was left available for payment on the day for those who didn’t purchase a ticket online.

Galway adopted a sensible approach in recognising the rural nature of their own county and

the fact a generation still exists which does not use the World Wide Web.

Club championship matches in a great many counties have become all-ticket affairs. You can no longer simply turn up and pay at the turnstiles.

For many, particularly the older generation who do not, cannot and will not have the access to online technology, this is preventing them from going as GAA fans.

Ulster GAA and the authorities in Croke Park should understand the challenges here and have at least one turnstile at every single ground in the country with the ability to accept payment on the day. It is that simple.

Whether it is a Croke Park fixture or club championship fixtures at provincial grounds, I do not understand why the decision makers have placed obstacles in the way of patrons attend games.

I can understand the security element of it all – having cash transported from the ground to the bank could be viewed as an unnecessary risk to take.

However, generally this has not been an issue in the past.

Even so, banking technology exists now when a simple tap of the card via a remote terminal is a simple way of accepting payment. Taxis in cities across the globe now increasingly use this service.

I do accept that the online payment method prior to fans arriving at the ground is a much simpler and better way of tracking county funds in terms of money management as it saves the counting and manpower required.

All banks, as we have seen via the closure of local branches, are changing their operations, but they too are still accommodating the public where possible.

Again, I go back to the fact that there is an unfair system operating in many counties towards those GAA people who do not purchase online tickets, or those who wish to be impromptu and turn up and watch a match.

There is a point when the GAA has to ask itself: what best facilitates the supporter?

The Galway County Board appear to get it – it is time that other counties received the memo.