“They will roll with it.”
Derry’s Glen Watty Graham’s are in the club All-Ireland final against Dublin’s Kilmacud Crokes, but Rory Gallagher is hopeful they will bounce straight back into the Derry set up.
The Oakleaf county play Limerick in the opening game of the Division Two National League campaign, and it’s just six days after the club final will take place.
Conor Glass and Ethan Doherty are the two main county stars from the Maghera club, while Emmet Bradley is waiting until the club season is over before deciding on his inter-county future.
“If we get Ethan Doherty and Conor Glass back with the high of winning an All-Ireland Club, in the overall picture that’s brilliant,” he said.
Come what way in the All-Ireland final, Gallagher expects Conor Glass and Ethan Doherty to play in Derry’s Division Two opener against Limerick a week later.
“They will roll with it,” Gallagher told BBC Sport NI.
“Please God, they will celebrate in style for a couple of days and they will be there against Limerick and they will battle it out.”
Reflecting on the player’s performances last year in a Derry jersey, he believed that Doherty in particular, didn’t get the credit he deserved.
“Conor was a well deserved All-Star. I feel if people really analysed Ethan’s game, he could have been an All-Star as well. The impact he had for us, and while [Galway’s] Jack Glynn won it, in my opinion Ethan could have been young footballer of the year.
“Ethan’s an exceptional talent. We wanted him in in 2019. We didn’t phone him because he was still at school. MacRory Cup and stuff like that. I probably should have taken him in at the time.
“His football IQ and his temperament are phenomenal. Him and Conor are winning machines. Since they came into the Glen team, look at their success rate. That’s not by accident. They are two special players.
“For now we wish them luck and hope they have a brilliant day in Croke Park on Sunday week.”
Related links:
- How Glen changed the narrative, replaced Ciaran McFaul and silenced the doubters
- Conor Glass penalised after using AFL screamer move to claim Scotstown kick-out
- “Jesus they never shut up, do they?” – What it was like training under Rory Gallagher and Jim McGuinness
