Robert Downey: Spirit of the Glen was required to get back on track

While it wasn’t technically a knockout game, Glen Rovers were on the verge of being knocked out.

Down by two points against Kanturk in Castletownroche on Sunday with time slipping away, the Glen were heading for elimination as Blackrock’s win over Fr O’Neills in the other game would have left both them and the Duhallow side on four points each with a game remaining.

The Glen kept battling though and four unanswered points in the dying minutes gave them the victory, 3-20 to 1-24. It doesn’t yet guarantee anything – Fr O’Neills must be overcome in the last match – but for the Glen, it was a show of character. Given that club legend Jimmy Lynam had died on the morning of the match, it was a fitting commemoration of his legacy to win in such style.

At the end, the Blackpool side’s stars were happy to deal with the many autograph and photo demands. For so long, Patrick Horgan has been the pied piper in this regard, but the Downey brothers, Robert and Eoin, were in heavy demand too – from their own supporters as well as those of Kanturk, the host club and even a few youngsters in Kilbrin tops.

Having patiently and politely fulfilled every request, the older Downey admitted that there had been pressure on to perform and get the victory – but, the closer that the alternative reality comes to materialising, the greater the need to stay composed and avoid panicking in the final minutes.

“I suppose it would be in the back of your mind,” Downey said, “I think as a club and as a team, we probably haven't put together a big win in a while, something we wouldn't be happy with.

“Playing in the Glen, it's drilled into us that you keep going till the end and you never die and look, maybe we're guilty of that in the last couple of years, we've gone through games where we should have won them and could have won them but I just think that today was just a brilliant team performance.

“The guys that came on, they just worked their hardest. I think we went four down after the penalty and a few things probably went against us and stuff like that but look, we kept going and in a game this tight, then it's obvious we need the bounce of the ball.”

Downey was involved in one of the late key moments – after the Glen had drawn level, he made a superb intervention to deny Lorcan O’Neill a Kanturk score and Simon Kennefick had the city side ahead with the next play.

Pulling off such a challenge without committing a foul is far from easy.

“That's the thing, he's going in, your brain's probably going a million miles an hour but you just have to slow it down and just think of your job and just defend,” Downey said.

“If you go into him at all, he'll probably go down – like he should – but that's what I'm on about, those small turnovers. We got a block, Cathal Hickey blocked the ball and two minutes later, look, Luke Horgan had it up the field, Simon grabbed it and just got a score on his back foot. “Look, that's the small bit of luck; on another day, that ball mightn’t have gone over the bar.”

Deployed at full-back, Downey had Cork colleague Alan Walsh for company during the game. He was happy to serve in whatever role he was asked.

“I think that's probably a credit to Alan and the Kanturk team,” he said.

“They pose serious threats and you couldn't take your eyes off him or Colin [Walsh] or any of their forwards for two seconds, they're just brilliant.

“Look, I don't mind, I don't mind where they play me, as long as the Glen are on the right side of the result at the end of the day.

“It worked out – other days it mightn’t have, but we’re just delighted. At the same time, we’re under no illusions, we're still not out of the group.

“We have to get over Fr O’Neills if we’re to have any hope of qualification and that'll be our focus when we go back to training during the week.”