CONOR Carville admits that even in Maghera there aren’t many “super-confident” that Glen will dethrone defending champions Kilcoo in Sunday’s Ulster final.
Glen’s best wasn’t quite good enough to topple the Magpies last season but Carville, skipper of Watty Graham’s side, thinks the Derry champions are a better team 12 months on. He knows Sunday’s decider will prove the truth of that.
The Maghera club that began the 2021 season without ever having won the Derry senior championship have now won two in-a-row and are in their first-ever Ulster final against one of Ireland’s most seasoned teams.
As Glen celebrated their first county crown, Kilcoo calmly accepted their 19th title in Down and they went on to beat the Derry champions in a nail-biting semi-final, then claimed their second Ulster title in-a-row and captured the ultimate prize – the All-Ireland title – in February.
If Glen are to deny the Magpies a provincial three in-a-row then only their absolute best will do, says Carville.
“Experience is invaluable at this level,” he said.
“Last year being our first foray into Ulster, you either win or you learn. We have to take learnings from what happened against Kilcoo and I’d like to think we’ve improved, but Sunday is the test to see if we have.
“They are hitting top form at the right time. I would say part of the thing (Kilcoo’s scratchy form) in Down was coming off winning an All-Ireland. You are playing deep into the year and you are probably a bit behind with your preparation for the following year.
“It is probably difficult to get up to top speed straight away and they have been showing in their last two performances that they are absolutely at the top of their game. They have peaked for this time of the year.”
There’s plenty of evidence to support Carville’s theory. Kilcoo have steamrolled Ballybay and Enniskillen Gaels (10 and 11 point wins respectively) to reach the last two. Meanwhile, after beating Slaughtneil to retain their county title, Glen have beaten Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran (by four points) and Antrim’s Cargin (by five).
“They were two very different games,” said Carville.
“The Errigal game was very gung-ho at times with two teams trying to out-score each other so it made for an entertaining watch. The Cargin game was more defensive and wasn’t as good a watch, but those games show we can win it both ways which is good.
“At the same time, we wouldn’t have been delighted with our performance against Cargin. We have plenty to work on for the final, the performance against Cargin wouldn’t do on Sunday.
“So we’re under no illusions, we have to improve seriously to give Kilcoo any sort of a game. Let’s face it, they are the reigning All-Ireland champions and are going for a three in-a-row in Ulster. If we are not at our absolute best, forget about it.”
If Glen don’t produce their best on Sunday it shouldn’t be for want of proper preparation and astute manager Malachy O’Rourke and trainer Ryan Porter will have learned lessons from last season’s extra-time loss.
“Malachy is very well organised, he shows serious belief in us and we are really well prepared, no matter who we are playing,” says Carville.
“Then you have Ryan Porter in with him who, in my view, is the best trainer in Ulster at the minute. “He knows how to have us right for the right time of the year. All the boys are really fit and we’ve had less injuries than in the past because Ryan is so good at managing things that way.
“All we can do it be the best prepared we can and perform the best we can on the day and if it’s not good enough, then so be it. We can hold up our hands and say Kilcoo are better.”
