Glen hoping for first county title in seven years

Errigal Ladies Senior Football Championship Final 

GLEN will go in search of a 20th county senior title today when they head up the Glenshane to face four in-a-row chasing Steelstown in Foreglen (4:15pm). 

It will be a first decider for the Watty’s since their last win back in 2016. For joint captains Lauren O’Loughlin and Aimee Glasgow and the girls this was their goal at the beginning of the year and so they are only too happy to be still training on these dark cold nights again. 

“Definitely, it’s been a while since we’ve still been training at this time of the year and it’s not a bad complaint. The goal at the start of the year was to get this far and thankfully we’ve done so,” they said.

While it is seven years since their last county title, a number of that side are still involved and along with the new faces of the younger players, the side has a good mix

“A lot of us have been in this position before. For some, 2016 was their first and only county final until now. The younger girls are experiencing a county final for the first time at senior level and hopefully won’t be their last. We want to keep building on what we have achieved this year.”

Few outside of Glen would had expected them to be the side coming up against the City girls especially after last year’s tame championship exit to Ballymaguigan but they have turned it around and the girls have put it down to belief. 

“The main change has probably been the belief we have in ourselves as a team; something we probably had lost a bit of in previous years but game by game we have built it back up.”

With Mickey Moran and Colin McKenna in charge along with two former Glen greats, Kathy Joyce and Nuala O'Hagan should people have had that surprise element about Glen?

 “I think we can say on behalf of all the girls that the management team have been a pleasure and honour to play under. They’ve had belief in us from day one and helped us see that as the season progressed. They can’t do anymore now. The goal is for us to do our job and get it over the line.”

The journey began against Saturday’s opponents and they quickly played down their marker inflicting a first defeat on the reigning champions in Derry championship football since 2019 but the Watty duo know hat means nothing now. 

“That first defeat means nothing now, we are both competing for a county title. We sort of know what to expect from Steelstown from previous years. We will go out and play how we’ve trained and hopefully that will stand to us on Saturday.”

They followed that opening evening win with victory in Ballerin but faced a Ballymaguigan side in their last group game knowing they still had a lot of work to do before booking a place in the knockout stages. They found themselves four points down to ‘Guigan in the second half and then in the semi-final against Ballinascreen, six points down. They showed that steely resolve and that character, that was perhaps missing for a few years.

 “It has - we’ve had tough games this year to get to this position, every game we have learnt something more about the heart and the character we have as a team and this drives us week in week out whether that be at matches or at training.” 

There was a huge crowd in Glen for that semi-final win over Ballinascreen - camogie players, senior footballers all getting behind the girls and both Lauren and Aimee believe that got them over the line.

“Those games were our backs were against the wall the support and shouting from crowd gives you that extra drive to push it out to the final whistle.”

With the men into yet another final going for three in-a-row - it's a special time to be part of Glen club so what would it mean to get over the line on Saturday?

“Can’t put into words how much it would mean to us as a team. We want to do it for each other, but especially for Mickey, Bricker, Nuala and Kathy who have put in a lot of work this year. To have both football teams in the county final is history in itself for the club so it would mean the world to us to bring the first senior title of the club season home as well as the 20th in the ladies history. We have the belief in ourselves and the belief of management and the club behind us so now it’s up to us to do our job on the pitch on Saturday.”