All-Ireland Club Final: Michael Warnock expects nerves as Glen's second chance arrives

Michael Warnock hopes to harness his nervous energy on Sunday when Glen bid to complete their journey by becoming All-Ireland champions

Nerves are sport's inescapable force. Always there, always referenced, they are often decisive, whether it's forcing a golfer to miss a four-foot putt on the 18th green, or a footballer to send a penalty high into the stands.

For Gaelic footballers, few things can conjure butterflies quite like Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.

So many of them don't get to experience it. Some of them conquer the nerves, others succumb to them.

Michael Warnock is like any of his peers. Prior to throw-in, his stomach is doing somersaults and he's a bit jumpier than normal.

The nerves come from deep within. For Warnock and his Glen team-mates, they are borne out of their second chance at realising a lifelong dream and becoming All-Ireland champions.

Their first chance, of course, ended in such devastating fashion that it became one of the GAA stories of 2023: Kilmacud's 16th man and all that.

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But even after exacting revenge on the Dubliners in the fog and frenzy of Newry a fortnight ago, Warnock will still feel the jitters as profoundly in the moments before the ball is thrown in against St Brigid's on Sunday.

"I would always be very nervous, as big Conor Glass would say. He can't understand how I get so nervous," Warnock tells BBC Sport Northern Ireland with a wry smile.

"I'll still be extremely nervous on Sunday and that's because you're 60 minutes away from achieving something that you couldn't even dream of a number of years back.

"Yes, we've been there, but St Brigid's were there 10 years ago. I know a number of their squad probably hasn't, but they have that experience in their camp.

"The experience will tell on Sunday and whether that experience stands to us."

Perhaps Warnock happily volunteers information about his nerves because he has been so effective in overcoming them this year.

The experienced former Derry defender has long been a vital cog in the Glen machine. He was there long before the success of the last few years, when the Maghera men stood unwillingly in Slaughtneil's shadow.

In addition to being a fine hurler (he used to play for Swatragh and Derry), Warnock has always been a tenacious footballer, but in recent months he has scaled new heights in trying to drive Glen back to the All-Ireland final.

In the semi-final, he was named man of the match after tirelessly chasing Galway star Shane Walsh about Pairc Esler for 60-plus minutes.

That was after a match-saving display in the Ulster final against Scotstown, when his courageous block to shut down Scotstown's Darragh Murray pushed Glen even closer to the finish line.

"For each individual it's different," adds Warnock on how nerves manifest themselves as a big game looms.

"After a certain time in the morning I'd struggle to eat, just with the knots in the stomach. That carries into the first five minutes of the game, but after that you become so engrossed in the game and your attention becomes devoted to trying to help your team.

"Nerves are a wonderful thing. You generally have more nerves in the Derry Championship I've found because the pressure nearly comes off you when come into Ulster because you've won your county title.

Fuelled by the heartache of last year's All-Ireland defeat, Warnock has been in inspired form for Glen this season

"The nerves will be there 100% but ultimately you have to try and park them because if you let nerves stand in your way of an All-Ireland medal, St Brigid's will soon be flying by you."

Glen's rise from Derry under-achievers to back-to-back All-Ireland finalists in recent years is well documented, but merits another recap.

Having watched the likes of Bellaghy, Slaughtneil and Ballinderry regularly lift the John McLaughlin Cup, they finally broke through in 2021 when they beat Slaughtneil in the final.

Under the knowing tutelage of Malachy O'Rourke, they quickly added second and third Derry titles and a couple of Ulster crowns in the past two years.

Now, with both a heartbreaking defeat and a momentous win against Kilmacud having built serious character within the group, they are viewed as favourites for Sunday's decider against Roscommon and Connacht champions and 2013 All-Ireland winners St Brigid's.

Warnock, though, won't be thinking that way.

St Brigid's beat five-time All-Ireland winners Corofin in the Connacht final before taking care of Munster champions Castlehaven to reach Croke Park.

Like Glen, they were excellent in the first half of their semi-final before allowing Castlehaven to dream of a comeback.

"They have some phenomenal individual players, (Roscommon star forward) Ben O'Carroll and Brian Stack at full-back, who was nominated for an All-Star," commented Warnock.

"The one thing I'd say about them is all 15 of them are very good footballers. They certainly have no passengers. All of them are comfortable on the ball, happy to carry it and go forward so it's going to be a massive challenge for us.

"But look, we have good players and they'll be looking to see how they can stifle them, but hopefully they don't do that on Sunday."