By John Harrington

A staple of many a victorious captain’s speech is that the winning team has proven a lot of people wrong.

Glen captain, Connor Carville, produced a classic of the genre after the Derry club defeated Kilcoo in the AIB Ulster Club SFC Final.

“For years, people said Glen had no character,” said Carville. “We are underachievers, we are mentally weak, and no leaders. Today, we are kings of Ulster!”

Rousing words, even if you often suspect sentiments such as these are amplified by the emotion of the moment and maybe even just a convenient motivational tool the team used as a means to an end.

Not as far as Glen are concerned, though. The dust is well settled on that Ulster Final win and team defender, Michael Warnock, is adamant that Carville’s words reflected much more than a contrived circled wagons mindset.

“I think it's something a lot more deep-rooted than that,” he says. “The narrative was that if you were born in Maghera and played for Glen that you weren't going to be capable of winning championships.

“People questioned your character and your manhood as well. That's something that's been around for years, much longer than I've been living, and something that's given us a chip on our shoulder for as long as we've been playing at senior level.

“It was a narrative that we certainly wanted to change because it's not something you want your club to be known for or yourself individually. People were saying that Glen didn't have character and leaders, that's been spouted about for years.

“And we thought we did have it, but the only way we could prove it to people was to win Derry championships and then ultimately back that up with an Ulster title so it was nice to be able to do that.”

Glen’s maiden Derry championship success last year came a lot later than many people thought it would. A generation of players that won minor and U-21 Ulster club championships took some time to really find their feet as senior footballers.

The pressure they were under to fulfil what many thought was their destiny might have been a factor there, but now they’ve really spread their wings as a team.

“As players you place such an expectation on yourself and when we won Derry we actually felt like the shackles were off, you don't feel the same actual pressure when you're playing in Ulster or the same nerves,” says Warnock.

“A couple of us don't know what to put it down to, I think it's maybe the fact you've got out of Derry and there was such an expectation on yourself that you needed to win a Derry championship as a player for Glen. In that sense then when you do that it eliminates a bit of the nerves.

“Winning Ulster was huge for us. Two years ago we were trying to win a Derry championship for the first time and now we've won an Ulster for the first time.

“It’s happened quite quickly in that sense but the expectations that people have outside of Glen is probably less than the expectation that we have as a group of players to be honest.”

That’s why Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Galway and Connacht champions, Maigh Cuilinn, is being viewed as an opportunity rather than an adventure by the Glen players.

Warnock doesn’t even buy into the suggestion that it’ll be a great buzz to play in Croke Park. The venue means nothing to him, only the task of winning the match itself.

Winning the club’s first Ulster Championship meant an awful lot to all the players, but refocusing for the All-Ireland series was something that came very easily too.

“We certainly enjoyed it alright but had to turn our focus quickly back to playing an All-Ireland semi-final because these opportunities don't come around too often.

“But, in terms of what it meant, it's difficult to put into context what it actually means for the club in the sense that the trophies were going around to homes over Christmas there to people that maybe couldn't get out and celebrate with us or couldn't get to a game.

“The joy that brought them, just to see the trophies, that's probably when it hits home that this is much, much bigger than you thought. People around our club haven't experienced senior success ever apart from the League back in the early nineties so it's nice to experience it now.

“But, as a group of players, to be honest, the selfishness in you turns your attention because while success comes, it goes a lot quicker and it takes a long time for it to come again and we have a good understanding of that unfortunately. So we turned our attention quite quickly to the All-Ireland semi-final to be honest.”

It’s perhaps all the easier to refocus when you appreciate the scale of the challenge you’re faced with. Maigh Cuilinn were very impressive winners in Connacht, and Warnock knows they’ll be difficult opponents to overcome.

“Huge. Any team that comes out of Galway is obviously there or there abouts come the All-Ireland series.

“They've seven Galway panellists there. Everyone knows Sean Kelly the captain of Galway. And Dessie Conneely, anyone who follows the national league will know him. He kicked 10 points I think it was against Westport.

“But, look, any club at this stage of the Championship is going to have quality all over. It's just going to be another absolute battle and ding dong game and we've got to try to perform and bring a better performance than we did against Kilcoo. That's the challenge we have now.”