Glen Rovers put previous setbacks behind them to knock out Cloughduv

It was a great night for Glen Rovers on Friday when they got the better of Cloughduv to reach the Co-op Superstores Premier JHC final.

It was a close game all through, with both sides having their spells in front and for most of the 60-plus minutes there was never more than a point or two in it. A good start to the second half, when they had the wind, saw the Glen come from one down to lead by four, but Cloughduv hit back to reduce that to two.

By the time we got to the 55th minute the sides were level again, 0-18 apiece, before the Glen struck the killer blow.

Dylan Long, just on as a sub, was played in by Calvin Healy and he made no mistake to find the back of the net for the only goal of the game.

It gave his side a massive boost but Cloughduv weren’t finished yet.

They threw everything at the Glen who must be applauded for their defensive effort late on to ensure they ran out winners by 1-18 to 0-19 to reach this final for the first time.

Manager Keith McCarthy said it was unbelievable to get to the final.

“Three years I have this team and we were beaten in a semi-final and then a quarter-final last year,” said McCarthy. 

Semi-finals are hard to win and to get over the line against a gallant Cloughduv team was brilliant.”

They had a long wait for the semi-final, having played Meelin a month ago and would have had players involved with St Nicholas as well since so it was a difficult task to manage the players.

“It was and with St Nicks going so well as well and there's a lot of crossover of players, but look they are fit from football, and we just got in a quick game against Sars last week and it put us spot on for today.”

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Having played against the strong wind in the first half, they were only a point down at the break, something that pleased McCarthy.

“I was happy enough having played against the wind, the palm trees that came down behind that goal on the city side I think have a bearing on the wind and I don’t know should we plant some more.

“But to go in a point down at half time against the wind like that we were extremely happy.

“We started the second half well and hit five or six points in the first 10 minutes and I thought we were cruising, but look credit to Cloughduv they never gave up and battled hard and got it back to a draw.

“With 10 minutes left I thought that game was in the mix and then Dylan Long came on to save the day.

“It's a great post for the club and it'll bring young lads on that will go on and play senior for the club and we are just ecstatic to be in the final,” concluded McCarthy.