Glen boss Malachy O’Rourke is under no illusions about the size of the task his side face this Sunday when they take on reigning Ulster and All-Ireland champions Kilcoo in the Athletic Grounds in the Ulster SFC final – and the former Fermanagh Manager knows that it is going to take a massive performance from his side if they are to come away as champions.

“Kilcoo are the benchmark for everyone; you are not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes when you are saying that,” said O’Rourke.

“They have won ten of the last 11 Down Championships, they have been in the last two All-Ireland finals and are the current champions. This is their third Ulster final in a row, and they are a serious experienced team who know how to win.

“They have proven themselves to be the best team around and unless we get a serious performance we are not going to win the game, so we are under no illusions.”

Glen only won their first Derry Senior title last year and now they are through to their first ever Ulster final, although O’Rourke believes that the huge success the club tasted at underage level in the province will help them, going into the final.

“It has been a bit of a whirlwind for the club because before last year they had never won a Derry Senior title, and to win that was a massive achievement for the club, and massive celebrations, and then to be able to go back and repeat it and move on so quickly to be in an Ulster final, it is great times for the club.

“I suppose though the fact that they had such great underage success leaves it that hasn’t come out of the blue, and at least that helps to reign in the giddiness, if you like,” he added.

Hungry and driven

O’Rourke says that the players have remained hungry and driven as they made it back-to-back Derry titles this year.

“There is always that possibility that when you win your first ever title, the boys wouldn’t be as hungry and you will lose a bit of edge and other teams will also be more prepared for you.

“But in fairness to the boys, they were very keen, there was no sign of that. They were very committed from the start and they are very ambitious and wanted to push on.

“The added thing also was that Ciaran McFaul was a main man for us last season and then we lost him and he wasn’t there at all this year, so that left a big hole in the team but the boys have really committed to it.

“We’ve taken it one step at a time and we find ourselves in the final,” he added.

Glen eased their way through Derry but they have had two tough outings, to date, in Ulster against Errigal Ciaran and Cargin which O’Rourke hopes will stand to them on Sunday.

“Against Errigal in the first half, we played against the wind and they went in four points up, so it was a tough battle in the second half but we got back in control of the game and finished the game well.

“Against Cargin, the wind was again a factor; we went in having played with a strong wind one point up and in the second half we had to show that bit of character and we had to be good on the ball.

“Both of those games were good tests and hopefully it is not a case that Kilcoo are playing at a higher level than us, and that we can get a big performance and close the gap because Kilcoo were really impressive against Enniskillen in the first half, and against Ballybay they had a convincing victory.

“They were slightly different to us in that they had a lot of tough games in their own championship, so they will be battle-hardened as well,” he added.

O’Rourke though states that Glen are where they want to be and he is hoping that they can grasp the opportunity that is there.

‘A massive performance’

“We know what Kilcoo are like and I said to the boys that they are playing the best team in Ireland, they have proven themselves to be that and, as I said, we know that we are going to have to find a massive performance if we are going to be in contention.

“Look, it is great to be there, it is where every club would love to be, and it is great for the Glen club to be there and, hopefully, we can make the most of it,” he concluded.