BY MATTHEW WILSON
FRANK McGlynn hopes that his side can put two years of disappointment behind them as they seek silverware in Saturday’s ‘B’ Championship Final against Ardara.
Glenfin have enjoyed a superb championship campaign to date which recently saw them overcome a stern test against Cloughaneely in the last four.
Cloughaneely battled from three points adrift in the closing stages to force extra-time, in what was a thrilling encounter.
However, McGlynn’s men responded well by running out eventual seven-point winners which the Glenfin boss was pleased with.
“Cloughaneely asked big questions of us, they really put it up to us. It didn’t look likely early in the second half, we were a couple of points down.
“With five minutes to go we were in a good place, we were three points up. But fair play to Cloughaneely, they brought it back to a draw game on the final whistle and we were probably disappointed at that stage.
“I suppose, fair play to our group of players, they recovered well between normal time and extra-time. They went at it again and put in a good, controlled performance in extra-time to get over the line.”
This Glenfin Under 21 group already have a lot of experience at a young age, with up to eight of them already getting minutes for the senior side according to McGlynn.
The club have suffered defeat at the last eight stage in the previous two editions of the competition and with the talent amongst the squad, the Glenfin boss feels that disappointment from yesteryear is driving them on this term.
“We probably have as many as seven or eight that have played with the senior team at some stage during the year. Coming up through the underage ranks, this probably would’ve been one of our strongest underage groups that we would’ve had in the club.
“It’s certainly a group that you’d be targeting to be successful with. We’ve been disappointed in the past two years in the Under 21 Championship, we lost in the knockout stages.
“I suppose this year they’re probably trying to use that bit of disappointment heading into the game now on Saturday to make sure we bring a bit of silverware back to the Glenfin.”
Next up for Glenfin is a meeting with Ardara in this Saturday’s Under 21 ‘B’ Championship showpiece.
The Pearse Memorial Park residents came through a tough battle of their own in the semi-finals, overcoming the challenge of Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin by three points.
The Ardara outfit have a host of talented individuals among their ranks, which McGlynn is well aware of and he’s expecting a ‘stiff challenge’ when the two sides meet at the Burn Road this weekend.
“Any Ardara team that you play has a great tradition of football and a good style of football too. Hopefully conditions aren’t too detrimental to that style of football, we probably play something similar ourselves.
“We hope that the pitches hold up at the weekend and it lends itself to a good game of football. We know that we’re up against another stiff challenge, they’ve huge depth in the forward line and have some great inside forwards.
“They had a tight game against Muff and we’d a struggle against Muff earlier in the Championship so we know they’re a well rounded team. Ardara will definitely be asking questions and be going out to bring the silverware back to Ardara on Saturday also.”
With a large number of McGlynn’s Under 21 players being involved at senior level this term, it’s been a long campaign for them which stretches back to January.
Victory on Saturday could come as the side’s just rewards for their effort and commitment this year and the Glenfin manager expressed that it would be a great way to cap it all off.
“For a lot of these players that have trained as senior footballers all year, it’s been a long year. We’re heading into December and some of these would’ve been training back in January.
“They get very little break between the Seniors finishing and the Under 21s starting. When you factor in the disappointment of the previous two years, I think it’d be a great way for them to end the year and to finish on a high hopefully.”
