Conor Grimes dreaming of bringing Delaney Cup home

After such a long journey to get there, Louth forward Conor Grimes is chomping at the bit at the chance to appear in a first Leinster Senior Final.

Of course the Wee County have already sampled what the Dubs have to offer, having been on the losing side when they locked horns in the National League. However, he is confident they will take plenty from that loss.

“There is a huge amount you can take from playing Dublin already in Croke Park” stressed the potent forward when speaking exclusively to the Democrat.  

“We learnt lots from it and will work on it and try improve further, which we will need to as they were very strong and beat us well that day.

“The focus all year has been on getting better, raising the bar, creating a better version of ourselves, and then showing it out on the pitch. We are going to need to do that on Sunday. Showcase our best version to be able to compete with Dublin on such a massive stage."

There is a lot riding on this final. It is the county’s first appearance in the Leinster showpiece since 2010 and only a third final in total since 1960.

The historic nature of the game is not lost on the Glen Emmet’s playmaker, who believes that it will only drive them on further in training. But they won’t let that history take over their thoughts.

“If anything, it adds to the preparation and to your focus as a player, as you want to be applying yourself in these games. You want to have these fixtures.

“But in a way you need to take the emotion out of it. That part of is left up to our supporters, our clubs, our family. It is a worry for everyone else.

“As a player it is all about focusing on the process, focus on the job in hand, on our training and getting all the final details down to a tee. That is all we're worried about. The occasion, the possible celebrations, they are all outside of your control.

“Once we concentrate on those factors that we can dictate, it takes a lot of the pressure off as us as you are doing everything you possibly can to be in the best shape for the game. Hopefully that stands to us and give us a performance we can be proud to stand over."

But the prospect of bringing home the trophy is too big to fully forget about. It is something Grimes and his teammates have waited a lifetime for. And they will do all in their power to bring the Delaney Cup home.

“Obviously it will be an emotional game" exclaimed Grimes.

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"This is my dream, winning Leinster, but going into game week I’m not going to be thinking about any childhood dreams. I’ll concentrate on training, fulfilling my role to the best of my abilities. That’s my current focus.

“All over the pitch we are going to have to be at it. There isn’t really anywhere we can take our foot off the gas as Dublin will have the ability to cut us open. And we are well aware of that, we need to be focused all over the pitch.

"We are excited and are enjoying the build-up. We are going to go out putting our best foot forward, no matter who ends up in the Dublin line up. The lads will have their homework done, the matchups sorted and we’ll be confident going in no matter who is marking us.”