Glass enjoying the journey

By Shaun Casey

CONOR Glass is loving life at the minute. He’s been on the go almost constantly for the past two years but someone in his privileged position isn’t going to start complaining, not that he’d have the time to.

Over the past few years, Glass has led Glen to their first ever Derry Senior Championship title, two Ulster titles and is now 60 minutes away from capturing the Andy Merrigan Cup, 12 months after losing the All-Ireland club final.

For Derry, the monster midfielder has helped the Oakleaf County win back-to-back Ulster crowns, earn promotion to the top flight for the first time since 2015 and get within a kick of a ball from an All-Ireland final.

“I’m very lucky in the terms of, I have a laid back personality, so I don’t get caught up too much in it,” said the 2022 All-Star.

“It’s been a busy schedule over the past 24 months, but I’d rather be playing football matches than doing a pre-season and slogging myself around Owenbeg.

“Winning’s obviously playing a part in it. Obviously if your club and county are both successful then that’s the reason for not having an off season.

“But when you’re winning then it’s easier to come to training, it’s easy to perform in training and get the motivation to come down to training. So winning does play a part in it, 100 per cent.”

Should Glass and his Glen teammates climb the steps of the Hogan Stand, they’ll be creating history, not only for the club and the county but for the province of Ulster as well.

Arva and Cullyhanna have already fulfilled their duties having collected the All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate titles at Croke Park last weekend, and now Malachy O’Rourke’s side have the opportunity to complete a unique treble.

Should all three All-Ireland club titles rest in Ulster for the next 12 months, it would be a massive achievement, but Glass isn’t looking that far ahead just yet and insists his side are just focusing on what they can control in the build up to Sunday’s decider.

“We’re just obviously focusing on ourselves, but it was a fantastic achievement for Arva and Cullyhanna to go on and win it at Croke Park. We’re just looking to implement a performance like that and try to follow suit.

“If that is the case then it’ll be a fantastic year for the Ulster clubs but we have a long 65 minutes ahead of us to be able to get there.”