Ryan McNicholl played briefly in Croke Park before but Sunday is a new ball game as Glenullin chase All-Ireland glory. He sat down with Michael McMullan…

SUNDAY will be a second time to play in Croke Park and a second All-Ireland final for Ryan McNicholl. This time it is real.

McNicholl recalls playing at HQ as a goalkeeper in an underage blitz back in the day.

This time the 7-22 to his name makes him the Glenullin top scorer going into their All-Ireland final with An Ghaeltacht.

As for his first All-Ireland final, it was a one-point defeat at the hands of Eglish in the 2019 national Féile in Mayo.

He scored 3-6 from midfield in the Derry final win over Sleacht Néill that year. Willie John Bradley, an attacking defender by trade and goal hero against Strokestown, was at full-forward.

Corner-back Joe McNicholl is now very much a forward. His first touch last Saturday saw him bag his fourth goal of Glenullin’s 10-game march to Sunday. Eamon Hasson is the fourth member of that Féile team who’ll run out at Croke Park on Sunday.

Ryan McNicholl won the skills’ competition at the Féile. His early memories of football came with the fundamentals in Tyrone club Moy before the family relocated to Glenullin when he was in primary three.

A few years later, Glenullin were invited to a tournament in Moy. Ryan was voted as the star player on the day.

Martin Boyle named him as the Derry minor captain in 2022 but his season was cut short with a cruciate ligament injury.

He lobbed the game’s first goal against Donegal at Owenbeg after hoovering up a wayward kick-out but was carried off before the 10th minute.

Derry lost the Ulster final before bouncing back to reach an All-Ireland semi-final where current Galway panellist Colm Costello’s 1-4 paved the way for a one-point win.

“I probably felt that we did miss out on All-Ireland that year,” he said. “They went on to beat Mayo by six in the final. I did feel that if I had been on the pitch that we could have won, that I could have done something extra.”

McNicholl credits Peter Hughes, Derry’s physiotherapist at the time, as the “best about” and the factor in a swift comeback.

Too young to play senior football, McNicholl was in a pack of Glenullin fans when Daniel O’Kane hit a dramatic winner to land the Derry Intermediate title later that year.

Paddy Bradley plonked him in for five minutes on his debut against Slaughtmanus the following season as he waved goodbye to rehab.

“I think I was only actually meant to play 10 minutes against Castledawson and he threw me in,” McNicholl added of this first start.

“It was probably a good job he did throw me in for the full game. It just got me back straight away and I was ready to kick on from there.”

It was a chance to build the minutes and get full training sessions under his belt. As the scores became to come, so too did the confidence in his knee.

He is the only Glenullin player to have scored in every championship outing this season. It’s his directness, thriving in the new rules, that allowed him to pack an attacking punch.

Glenullin led by a point when Chrissy Dempsey played him in after half-time last Saturday. A fisted point? No chance. Space wasn’t plentiful but there was enough of a glimmer. He hit the net for his second goal and the game turned for the second time.

“I think if I have a clear enough sight on the goal, I will go for the goal,” he said.

“I will try and play on the edge a wee bit, so it’s worked so far and hopefully it’ll keep working.”

It has been something drummed in over the years with different voices pushing the same message.

“The whole way up, I’ve played under a good few managers just always backed me, told me to take my man on, first thing you do take your man on,” McNicholl said, offering how it opens up a game.

If the doors begin to close, then the recycle option comes into play. His Ulster final performance typified the impact he had on others around him. As well as his 1-2, he played the final pass in a further 2-1.

Off the field, these are special times in Glenullin. While McNicholl is seated in the players’ room, there are trays of goodies and hospitality downstairs at an open evening for the media.

Members of the club committee are ringed around a table and laptop as the finishing touches to the logistics are pulled into line. One week is a tight turnaround for everyone but the place is a hotbed of activity.

The lights are on outside as the community, young and old, scrape the snow off the pitch outside. There are leaf blowers, wheelbarrows and shovels. By any means possible, snow is cleared to enable them to train for their biggest game on their own door step.

Central to it is the club’s ultras with their iconic yellow boiler suits put away for Sunday’s trip to Dublin. These are magical times in Glenullin. The days of their lives.

“There’s some atmosphere to our games, our supporters are great,” said McNicholl, older brother of Cormac who dresses up as the eagle in the sea of yellow.

“You just don’t want it to end at the moment; the form couldn’t be better. You’re doing it to push everyone on; you’re doing it to push the community on.”

Beyond Sunday, there is the carrot of being back in the senior championship. Their intermediate run has helped as a bridge but that can wait.

“I can’t wait to get to Croke Park, it’s probably a dream with your club,” he said.

“You get lucky if you’re good enough to play with your county there but to get with your club it’s a special, special feeling to play in an All-Ireland final.

“They’ve Aidan Walsh and Brian Ó Beaglaoich, two All-stars, so they will be a good team.

“They won with good style the last day with a two-pointer, when it was brought on and taken back out. I’ve serious respect for that but a final’s there to be won and I think we will do it.”

• Tune into Thursday’s edition of the Gaelic Lives podcast for the full interview with Ryan from Glenullin’s press evening.