Newbridge hoping to deny Glen to clinch Derry senior title

Derry SFC Final   |   Glen v Newbridge, Sunday, Celtic Park, 3.30pm   |   Referee: Martin McErlane (Ballinderry)

Newbridge are the third team to arrive at Celtic Park with the aim of making sure the Glen bus doesn’t have an extra passenger heading back down the Glenshane Pass.

Since winning their first ever Derry title in 2021, Slaughtneil and Magherafelt ran out of the other dressing room on final day.

Neither were even close. Glen had the deal sealed long before the final whistle. John McLaughlin was back on the bus.

Newbridge are in a first final since 1991. Today marks 35 years since the last of their 10 senior titles.

For the Watties, if they win, they’ll join Slaughtneil (2017) and Bellaghy (1961) in the Derry four-in-a-row club.

Those are the milestones that set the scene for anyone outside the Derry championship bubble.

It's last day Glen go into a game with their Derry, Ulster and All-Ireland titles on the line.

The waters have been choppier this year. A defeat to Slaughtneil in the group stages left top spot beyond them and a quarter-final that was going to be a tougher test. And it was. Lavey will look into Sunday’s game wondering if it could’ve been them.

Slaughtneil will lament the concession of a goal after Padraig Cassidy took a point with a late goal chance at the other end to leave just a point in it.

Glen will point to their midfield dominance to why they are here and the sheer simplistic brilliance of Ethan Doherty.

Like all true champions, there are always a litany of reasons why teams nearly beat them. But champions are champions because they know how to take a deep breath and focus on the next play. And win.

For Newbridge, they’ve been an emerging force. Their age profile is bang on. Aside from Declan McKeever, born just weeks after their 1989 success, they’ve a group that will be here for the foreseeable.

Eamon Young and Cathair McBride coming in next year is just an example of how they’ve drip-fed into the youthful panel they have.

But they’d move heaven and earth to have Paudi McGrogan in their corner on Sunday.

His influence is still impactful from the outside, using his experience to steer their young guns. But Glen with rest easier this week knowing he’ll be handing out water bottles rather than putting out their fires.

Shea McAteer will be another worry. A significant hamstring injury and a two-week window aren’t a good mix.

Newbridge have a young squad filled with talent.

On the other side, the extra two weeks give Malachy O’Rourke more of a chance of putting Jack Doherty and Ciaran McFaul into battle. It will give Cathal Mulholland another handful of sessions to tune up.

Conundrum

For Newbridge, like all teams before them, the conundrum will be Ethan Doherty. He has way more value than the 4-11 to his name across this campaign.

The concern is putting too many eggs in the basket to stop him. Leaving a man short up front opens the door for Michael Warnock to hurt coming the other way. He’s their Tom Brady.

If Connlan Bradley isn’t forced to kick long, Doherty and Warnock are always his out ball from a pressed kick-out.

It may well be Conor McGrogan tracking Doherty everywhere. Or do they drop Conleth McGrogan back like they did with Shane Heavron against Magherafelt?

Shane McGrogan and Conor Doherty have the battle to contend with at midfield on Glass and Emmett Bradley.

The other issue is Glen’s excellent record of closing down kick-outs. Bellaghy, with the help of a strong wind, had James Gribbin boxed in when they shaved the ‘Bridge five-point lead down to zero. Glen won’t have missed that.

Newbridge won’t have missed how Glen bossed Slaughtneil in the sedone half of their semi-final. The Emmet’s were living on scraps. Two short restarts from Jack Cassidy resulted in two second-half points with the other two were a by-product to two sloppy Glen kicks. The rest was Glen control.

Like it is so often the case in every corner of Ireland, this will be the biggest facet of the fine preparations this week. How do Newbridge get out?

One thing the ‘Bridge won’t need to worry about will be legs. They’ve lasted the pace in all their games but Glen will put that to the test.

Newbridge’s passport to getting themselves into a position to win the game is an early lead. Playing the game on their terms is so important.

They’ll fancy themselves when going at Glen on the overlap. Chasing the game is a different matter.

Getting Conor Doherty and Conor McAteer on the front foot as often as possible is vital. The semi-final passed both by – until Doherty’s kick for the winning goal – and it left them needing to find the inches elsewhere to reel in Magherafelt.

That’s what will please Newbridge this week. They didn’t play anywhere near their potential and still made it through to the final.

After two epic semi-final failures, they found a way to dig out a win. Like Glen did against Lavey.

The Watties have walked down the final furlong so many times. They’ve had battles like Naomh Conaill and like Kilmacud in the fog.

This Newbridge team have the cut of a group that will have other attempts to win the John McLaughlin Cup. But the 33 years since their last final is a lifetime to a club with 10 titles.

They come in as underdogs. Stepping over a tricky penultimate fence will have spiked the Watties’ belief in keeping their hands on the cup.