Historic Ulster win can inspire the next generation - McNicholl

Hindsight is the safe haven of every pundit in every sport. We're all geniuses after the fact, finding that stat or moment that underpins the bulletproof opinion we landed on just seconds earlier.

The truth is most games, especially heavyweight clashes like Ulster finals, unwrap themselves organically.

The final outcome is a mosaic of a thousand shots, tackles, breaks and decisions; each of which tilt the pendulum slightly more one way than the other. The sum of those incidents - big and small - decide which cabinet the trophy will reside in.

Of course some incidents carry greater significance than others, but any Glenullin fan or pundit who tells you they weren't worried 15 minutes into Sunday's Ulster Intermediate Club final might be stretching the truth a bit.

In fact most pundits were deciding on the reason for Cuchulainns' dominance, a dominance that looked likely topple an out of sorts Glenullin who were struggling in the spotlight. Opinions were being formed.

Then two things happened. First, Ryan McNicholl found the net with a goal that reminded Michael O'Kane's team exactly what they were all about. Second, Neil McNicholl joined the party.

Glenullin's Rolls Royce midfielder fire over the bar with his left foot, then his right: breathed long enough to allow Donal O'Kane to get in on the act with a free before adding a third point and capping his half with a sublime two pointer.

It was more than simply five of Glenullin final six scores of the opening half. It was a statement of intent aimed directly at his Cavan opponents and it shook Cuchulainns to their core. In a contest of subtle nudges one way or the other, this was a seismic shift and it provided a grip Glenullin wouldn't loose.

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Against a stiff breeze in the first half, the Abbey VS trailed by one, and they hit three goals after the restart to finish strong and reach the last eight

"Ryan's finish was very, very good. His movement off the ball is incredible," deflected Glenullin's No. 9 when asked about the importance of own contribution, "If you ever watch him, just him moving; I have to mark him in training the odd time and I can tell you it’s a hard job.

"For mine, there was a stronger wind out there than you would think. I don't know if you’d have noticed it from the stand but it was very strong and the opportunity just came up. They gave me a bit of space and I thought I may as well go for it. Then, for the second half, we knew how strong the wind was and were able to push out that bit more. But no, sometimes those shots come off and sometimes they don't. I was just lucky it did."

The deflection is typical of a Glenullin squad content to hand praise around. They're a tight knit bunch, happy to let team-mates shine, team-mates like Eoin Bradley who was never going to be far from the headlines if there’s a trophy to be handed out.

"He's a character, isn't he!" laughs McNicholl of the 41 year old former county start who remains a potent threat, "I think he came on and scored 1-01 inside two minutes! Look, if I was 40-45 minutes into a game and saw 'Skinner' Bradley coming on, and I knew I had to mark him, I'd be in a bit of trouble.

"He's 41 and he's playing as if he's 21. He's got himself in good nick and we are very lucky to have him. He keeps saying this is probably one of his last years but I think he could play for another five years. As I said, we're lucky to have him, as we are with all our forwards but if Skinner is able to give you 15-20 minutes, that's all we can ask for. He’s an incredible talent."

It's during a period exactly like the choppy waters of that first quarter in Clones that clubs need characters like McNicholl to stand up but he stresses Glenullin are blessed with leaders all over the pitch.

"We did start very slowly and I think it was maybe a few nerves," he added, "We have a relatively young team and some of the boys haven't played at that kind of level yet but once we got going - there is that much class in our team - once we got going they were going to take over.

"We're very lucky to have pace inside and runners who can run all day, so when we can build up that bit of steam we are hard to peg back; once we get our confidence high, we are very hard to stop. We will probably look at why we did start so slow, it gives us something to work on going forward, but we won't worry about it just now."

McNicholl is acutely aware that a victory like Sunday's, a first Ulster title in what is the club's centenary year, is about so much more than players on a pitch. They have etched their names into club lore but the ripples of what they have achieved will roll out into the community for generations to come.

"It is unbelievable, I don't even know I could put that into words. At times in the game we were looking good and others we were under the cosh but, look, it's the first time in our history - 100 years of the club - and you will remember days like this forever. It's amazing, not just for us as players but for our whole community. I look at my two nephews and they're just mad about Glenullin. They want to play for Glenullin and they're only five or six years of age. This is going to be their future going forward and I'm just happy we can give them a little bit of history, something to maybe aspire to when they go forward.

"Look it's just incredible. It's so hard to put into words. When did you ever think you would win an Ulster title with your club? People can only dream of that. We are the last Derry team going but we still want to go bit further so, yes, we will look forward to the All Ireland Series but right now we're just happy we've got over the line."

In hindsight we should never have doubted them.