Glen boss Malachy O'Rourke savours 'a crazy sort of a day'

Glen manager Malachy O'Rourke paid tribute to his players for hauling themselves back to another All-Ireland club SFC final after an epic battle with Kilmacud Crokes in dense Newry fog.

The Derrymen had their hearts broken a year ago in the decider when they were beaten by Kilmacud in a thriller. However, it later transpired the Dublin side had a 16th player on the pitch for the final play of the game.

Nine days after the final, the CCCC ordered a replay, a decision that was appealed by Crokes. The controversy finally ended on 3 February when Glen withdrew their initial appeal of the result.

They've had to stew on that controversy for a long time but on Sunday Glen exorcised their demons with a deserved 1-14 to 2-10 success in challenging conditions at Páirc Esler, where the fog made visibility difficult.

For O'Rourke, it was a sweet victory, but he warned his charges must now go on to beat St Brigid's in the final to truly put 2023's disappointment behind them.

"With the weather conditions and everything else it was a crazy sort of a day in many ways, you couldn't really see what was going on at the top end [of the pitch]," he told RTÉ Sport.

"It was tough but that decision was taken out of our hands. We just had to get on with it and try to cope with the conditions as best we could.

"Our overall feeling is we're just delighted to be through but as I said earlier on, we're in exactly the same position as we were last year. We didn't win the final last year so we have to now focus really hard and try to get a really good performance in two weeks' time."

Glen were seven points ahead at one stage before Kilmacud clawed their way back into an absorbing contest that went to the wire.

"We were in a great position at one stage, we were