Ulster Club SFC final: Glen boss Malachy O'Rourke knew Scotstown 'meant business' after summer match
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Malachy O'Rourke, pictured speaking to his Glen players after their semi-final over Naomh Conaill, is hoping to win his third Ulster club title as a manager
Ulster Club Senior Football Championship final - Watty Graham's Glen v Scotstown |
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Venue: Athletic Grounds, Armagh Date: Sunday, 10 December Throw-in: 16:00 GMT |
Coverage: Live text updates, match report and highlights on the BBC Sport website & app. |
Earlier this year, with the dust having barely settled on the inter-county season, Glen and Scotstown got together for a challenge match at Garvaghey ahead of their respective county championships in Derry and Monaghan.
Both panels were missing some of their county stars, and while it was organised primarily to get minutes into legs, the level of Scotstown's performance was not lost on Glen boss Malachy O'Rourke.
Many viewed the Monaghan champions' last-gasp Ulster semi-final win over Kilcoo as a shock, but not O'Rourke. He'd seen them up close and felt they had the quality to factor at the business end of the provincial series.
O'Rourke's hunch proved well-placed, because here Scotstown are, in the Ulster final, gunning for Glen's crown.
"You could see that night that they were hungry and well organised," said O'Rourke, recalling the challenge match earlier this year.
"I knew they'd be there or thereabouts at the end of the year. It's proven that way and it's set up for a really good final on Sunday."
O'Rourke added: "I just got the impression that night that they meant business. They beat us that night so I'm not surprised to see them end up where they have."
In reality, that challenge match will have no bearing on Sunday's showpiece. Nor will Glen's win when the clubs met in the 2021 quarter-final and nor, according to O'Rourke, will the fact that he worked closely with several Scotstown players during his seven-year stint as Monaghan boss.
When asked if that will give him and his players an advantage, a smiling O'Rourke said: "I'd love to say it did, but I'm not too sure about that.
"I suppose the fact that I've worked so closely with him, I know the qualities the boys have. They're great lads and great players.
"There's eight of them on the panel at the minute on the county panel, and a lot of them have been regular starters, so they've built up a massive bank of experience.
"Scotstown would have far more experience in the Ulster Club Championship than Glen because they've been it so many times and have been in the final twice. We're still newcomers at this stage."
Newcomers they may be, having only made their Ulster debut in that win over Scotstown in 2021, but there is no question that the three-in-a-row Derry champions are being pegged as the favourites for Sunday.
Of course, a victory on Sunday would not only bring Glen into rarefied air as back-to-back Ulster champions, but it would be another significant step towards returning to Croke Park, the scene of their most devastating defeat.
Because, ultimately, that is what Glen crave, whether they care to admit or not: another crack in an All-Ireland final after the extraordinary circumstances that led to them losing the last one.
"After the disappointment of last year as well, to lose the All-Ireland final and the fallout after it, it would have been easy enough to feel sorry for ourselves," added O'Rourke, who is aiming for his third Ulster club title as manager having also led The Loup to glory in 2003.
"In fairness to the boys, we parked that fairly quickly. We just had a focus on what was ahead of us and the boys have done brilliantly to win a competitive Derry championship and win two games in Ulster."
Emmett Bradley (centre) sealed Glen's Ulster final return with a last-gasp point to see off Naomh Conaill in the semi-final at Healy Park
Having completed a hat-trick of Derry titles, Glen saw off Antrim champions Cargin in the Ulster quarter-finals and were in danger of being knocked off their perch by Donegal's Naomh Conaill only for Emmett Bradley's last-gasp point to help them edge a dramatic semi-final.
While O'Rourke was delighted by his side's heroics last time out, he admits that Glen must produce a vastly improved performance in order to crush Scotstown's hopes of lifting the Seamus McFerran Cup for the first time since 1989.
"There's no doubt it will take more [to win the final]," admitted O'Rourke.
"The performance [against Naomh Conaill], in many ways, we were delighted with a lot of aspects.
"We worked really hard as a team and our defence was really good, but we maybe would have liked to have converted more of our chances.
"I know we'll need to do that this weekend so there are areas we need to improve. If we're going to beat Scotstown, we have to be much better and we're hoping we can achieve that."