DERRY SFC: Mulholland delighted with victory

Eunan Mulholland spent all week preparing himself for a ding-dong battle and didn’t fully believe he had picked up a second county senior medal until his older brother Cathal poked home the game’s only goal late on.

“It’s just unreal,” he said of the feeling at winning back-to-back titles. “I didn’t think anyone coming up here today expected that game to go the way it did.”

Mulholland, a cousin of Slaughtneil star Shane McGuigan, felt Glen didn’t get the credit they deserved for taking the John McLaughlin Cup home last season and talked up Slaughtneil’s chances of regaining their title.

“It’s not something you talk about, it’s in the back of your mind that you maybe have a point to prove,” he said, pointing to comments of how teams were setting up differently against them.

“We still thought we were doing alright and going in the right direction, we were aiming to peak here today and thankfully we did.”

For Glen, the next performance was always the most important, with the target of making it the best of the season.

Mulholland remembers a conversation with Conleth McGuckin (also a cousin) about how Glen’s younger guns needed to step up to take the team’s collective up another notch.

“It is lethal,” said of what it’s like to have slotted into the Glen side. “I remember taking to Conleth (McGuckian) earlier in the year and we knew we were going to have to step it up this year if we wanted to get to that next level

“I don’t know about me, but Conleth has been savage all year. It takes that from the younger boys if you want to take that to the next level, you have to improve and improve.”

Ethan Doherty sets up an attack for Glen during Sunday's final. Pic by Mary K Burke

With Slaughtneil staging a comeback, cutting Glen’s lead to four points with 12 minutes to play, Ethan Doherty’s second score broke the momentum, but Mulholland never felt confident.

“I didn’t feel it was over until we hit the net,” he said of Glen’s goal. “When there are four or five points in it and if they (Slaughtneil) hit the net or get two on the bounce, they are back in the game.

DERRY SFC: Glen goal key moment - O'Rourke

The Watties manager said Cathal Mulholland's strike hit Slaughtneil's momentum.

“They were coming back into and that Slaughtneil side is a great team and full of great players,” Eunan added, also showing his delight for how Cathal fought his way back from injury.

After Antóin McMullan spilled Emmett Bradley’s pot shot, the older Mulholland hit the game’s only goal before celebrating with the gusto of man releasing the frustration of ending an injury-ravaged spell in his career.

“I am delighted for him,” Eunan said. “He has put in a lot of work. He has been seeing boys all over the country to get himself sorted and he has taken it to another level, he has had a great year.”