Glen midfielder Conor Glass has admitted that their win in the All-Ireland Club SFC on Sunday was all worth it after their comeback over St. Brigid’s.
Last year, Glen was at the centre of a controversy with the Dublin side and former champions Kilmacud Crokes.
Kilmacud finished the 2022 final with 16 men on the field as Glen came agonisingly close to nicking the winning goal. However, they were beaten.
For weeks, there was back and forth about replaying the game, but eventually, the outcome resulted in Kilmacud keeping the title.
On Sunday, Glen returned to Croke Park to face St. Brigid’s and were close to another defeat, but Glass' inspired finish near the end drew the sides level, and from that point on, the Derry side managed to edge out their opponents by a point to become All-Ireland Club champions.
Glass, speaking after the game, admitted that 2023 was a stressful year but also confidently claimed that Glen is now the "best team in Ireland."
“You only have to look behind you to see what it means to this group of people,” Glass told TG4.
The goal was magic but the leadership from Conor Glass to jump 10ft and break the next kickout was unbelieveable
Christ I cannot wait to see him for Derry this year pic.twitter.com/VgVFsFhEsS— Peadar Donnelly (@PeadarDonnelly) January 22, 2024
“We definitely don’t make it easy now, but this team has shown character all year, and there is no better way to show it than on the All-Ireland final day. It's been a tough year after the Kilmacud loss, but we’re the best team in Ireland now.
“We were a man down for the last 10 minutes. Danny Tallon had a massive turnover before the goal. We cherish those small things as teammates, and they have our backs.
“After the final whistle, Ciaran McFaul and I just cried. As I said, it has been a stressful 12 months, but we will cherish this moment now and lift the cup."
In the 2023 final against Croke, Glass had the chance to win it in the final minute of additional time, but it was saved by Crokes keeper Conor Ferris.
12 months after his narrow miss against Crokes, Glass became the hero of the day with his goal. Many people claim he is currently the "best footballer in the country."
When asked if he thought about his miss from 2023, the Derry native added, "Yes, 100%. Here look, I had an opportunity to win it last year, and the Kilmacud 'keeper was able to get down on the ground and save it, so I wasn’t going to make that mistake again today.
"As I said leading up to this game, it has been on my mind 100%. I just put my foot through it and left nothing out there. If it went in, it went in. If it was saved, at least I went for it.
"Those are the sort of moments that are going to stand out to you. I could have trusted the rest of the boys to do it as well, and I was just lucky enough to be the one with the ball."
