It’ll be a special moment for London captain Sean Glynn if he’s the one climbing the Hogan Stand steps at Croke Park on Saturday evening to lift the Christy Ring Cup
Ten months ago, Sean Glynn yelled himself hoarse from the Cusack Stand as Clare claimed their first All-Ireland title for 11 years. The Killanena-native watched on as Tony Kelly climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup to the delight of those bedecked in yellow and blue. Little could he have known at the time, though, that less than a year later he’d be 70 minutes from emulating the Clare captain’s walk. Well, next Saturday, Glynn has that chance as London’s hurlers bid to win a first Christy Ring title for 13 years when they face Derry.
“I was there! Shouting and roaring up in the Cusack Stand,” Glynn told the Irish World “It’ll be a little bit different coming out of the dressing rooms on Saturday and actually playing on the field.” For Glynn, just the chance to grace the hallowed turf will be a boyhood ambition realised. “Getting to Croke Park is every young fella’s dream – it was definitely one of my dreams when I started hurling at four or five back in Clare,” he said. But finals are about all about winning – and there’s no better place to do win one than Croke Park.
London’s hurlers may have reached the “Promised Land”, as Glynn calls it, but they’re certainly not making the trip to Dublin “just to take part”. Far from it in fact. “The focus is solely on getting a win,” adds Glynn, who was on the Clare Minor panel and had U21 trials. “Having done the hard work of getting there, we want to win – and come back to London with the cup.”
Derry dominance
If they are to do that, however, they’re going to have to break Derry’s stranglehold over them. The Oak Leafers have won the last four meetings between the sides post London’s return to the inter-county scene following the lifting of Covid restrictions. Foremost of those defeats was a two-point loss in 2023 at Ruislip, when the home side only needed a draw. It cost the Exiles a place in the Ring final.
More recently, Johnny McGarvey’s side came out on top in the teams’ meeting at McGovern Park a few weeks ago by 2-19 to 1-18. That game turned on Cormac O’Doherty’s 54th minute goal and the red carding of London’s Conor O’Carroll just 60 seconds later. The home side had held a precarious five-point advantage before the chaos, but by the time the mist had cleared the gap was just two points and the Exiles were down to 14-men. O’Doherty’s second major in the 68th minute sealed it.
“We had them at sixes and sevens in the first half, but we didn’t convert enough,” reflects Glynn. “You could argue that Conor O’Carroll’s sending off was a factor, but they were all over us before that – they’d got control.” So, while the two teams have developed a rivalry over the past few seasons, Glynn admits it’s a “one-sided rivalry” given Derry’s upperhand. But it’s not one that the Exiles can’t overcome.
“It’s a great thing for us as a team, but it’s also a very proud moment for all our families and friends getting to see us playing there and getting to be part of the occasion.”
“Mentally we’re going to have that resilience because we’ve been there in the battle, but haven’t got over the line,” he says. “We have to want it more and hopefully that will be enough.”
That recent history, together with the fact that Derry are gracing their fourth Ring final in the last five years, means the Oak Leafers start Saturday’s final as “100 per cent” favourites. They also lost out in the Ring final of 2015. “We’ve nothing to lose; we’ll be underdogs,” says Glynn, who made his London debut against Sligo in April 2022 at Ruislip in the opening round of the Christy Ring. “They’ll have all the pressure on them – they won’t want to lose three finals in a row “Whereas we have a chance just to go out there and have a crack at it.”
Challenge
The challenge before this London team is therefore a huge one, but far from insurmountable. Indeed, above all else this season, Neil Rogers’ Band of Brothers have proven themselves a team not lacking in character. In securing promotion to NHL Division 2 for next year, they slugged it out right to the wire on more than one occasion – against Sligo, Cavan, Mayo and Wicklow.
Against Wicklow, added time points from David Devine and Dylan Dawson saw Rogers’ men snatch a one-point victory. “We tend to dig ourselves into a hole and have a dogfight to stay in it, but most of the time we’ve got out of it,” says Glynn. Bouncing back from their disappointing defeat to Mayo in the league final by stunning 2023 Ring champions Meath in Round 1 of the championship was another example. Four first half London goals in Trim paved the way for a famous win.
But after the team’s nemesis, Derry, had dented their Croker hopes in Round 2, the Exiles found themselves “staring down the barrel” of elimination in injury-time against Wicklow at Echelon Park. A late point from Robert Emmetts’ Donnacha Leahy, though, secured what would prove an invaluable draw. At the time, though, Glynn admits it “felt like a defeat”, as the Exiles’ Croke Park destiny was no longer in their own hands. Unlike in previous years, however, this time the stars aligned to shine favourably on London for once.
London did their part by beating Donegal and Tyrone, with Wicklow’s win over Meath meaning that as long as Derry and Wicklow’s Round 5 clash didn’t end in a draw, the Exiles would be heading to Croke Park. It didn’t; the Oak Leafers made sure of that in some style in pursuit of their first-ever Ring title. It left London to edge out Wicklow for second place on points difference. “It’s mad; it seemed like it was all done a few weeks ago when we drew with Wicklow,” reflects Glynn. But here they are, just 70 minutes from being crowned champions.
Incentive
While Derry carry the baggage of four previous Christy Ring final defeats into Saturday, London will want to avoid losing a second final this year. Defeat to Mayo by three points in Newbridge in the Division 3 decider stung, because the Exiles had arrived at Manguard Park with a 100 per cent record. But London were “below par” on the day. “1-8 isn’t going to win you an argument let alone a game. I think they wanted it a little bit more because we’d beaten them in the round robin stage,” said Glynn. “It wasn’t soul-destroying, but the following week turned into a real reflection going into the Meath game. How were we so poor?
“After a couple of days, we buried the hatchet on it and said, ‘look, that wasn’t us’. We regrouped and used it as an incentive throughout the championship to say ‘we’re not going to allow ourselves to be that poor. We don’t want that level of performance again’. We went into that final as favourites and we didn’t perform, so maybe we’re better off going into this one as underdogs. We’ve nothing to lose.”
Commendable
London’s achievement in reaching Saturday’s final is even more commendable given they’ve done it without the services of last year’s Christy Ring Hurler of the Year, Jack Goulding. The St Gabriel’s man scored 5-50 for an Exiles team that didn’t even reach the final. Amongst others to depart were Goulding’s fellow joint-captain Kevin Keid and Ronan Crowley, who’d twice reached the Lory Meagher Cup final with Lancashire. While Glynn has picked up the captain’s armband, Goulding’s departure has forced others to stand up and take on the ‘points scoring’ load – something they’ve done with relish.
“Having done the hard work of getting there, we want to win – and come back to London with the cup.”
Against Meath it was Devine 0-7 (4f) and Jack Morrissey 2-5, while against Derry it was Devine 0-10 (2’65, 8f) and Glynn 1-1 to the fore. As already noted, it was Leahy who then came off the bench to strike two vital late scores in Wicklow to claim that all important draw. Away to Donegal, Jack Morrissey 1-5 (1-0’pen, 4f) and Dawson 0-5 hit form, and O’Carroll, 2-3, Glynn 1-4 and Dawson 1-2 led the way against Tyrone. In addition, Paul Kennedy, Tom Millerick, goalkeeper Mark Kilgannon and Enda Egan have all had a terrific year.
And while Derry have Croke Park experience in abundance, the Exiles aren’t completely lacking in that area. Jack Morrissey reached an All-Ireland Minor final with Kilkenny in 2018, while Conor McCormack is hugely experienced with both Dublin seniors and Ballyboden St Endas. Kilgannon was on the bench when Ballygunner won an All-Ireland senior club in 2022. And off the field, ex-Cork star Anthony Nash knows all about big day’s out at Croker.
But above all else this has been a real ‘team’ effort to get this far, and it’ll take more of the same if they’re to get over the line on Saturday. “I was speaking with Jack (Goulding) before the Tyrone game and he was like ‘yeh, there’s a bit of a difference from last year’,” said Glynn. “This year we’ve scorers popping up everywhere. There’s lads all over the pitch stepping up and it’s really good, and we’ve lads coming off the bench and getting a couple of points and they’re doing it when it’s needed.”
Performance
Victory on Saturday would be a sweet moment for all connected with this London team – and those who’ve put their shoulder to the wheel in recent years. None more so than the likes of the long serving Owen Shiel, Padraig Muldoon, vice-captain Conor Byrne and Donie Reale – the only survivor from London’s 2013 NHL Div 2B final success. The ‘biggest thing’ for Glynn is that the team ‘get a performance’, unlike in the league final.
“Hopefully we can do ourselves justice,” said Glynn, who delighted in ringing home post London’s win over Tyrone to tell his family to start planning for a trip to Croke Park. You could hear the elation; my young nephews are all excited now to see us in Croke Park. It’s a great thing for us as a team, but it’s also a very proud moment for all our families and friends getting to see us playing there and getting to be part of the occasion. And if we give it a right crack, we’ve a great chance of bringing the cup back to London. It would be something special to go up the Hogan Stand and accept the Christy Ring on behalf of this fantastic team, and the work that everyone has put in.”
If Glynn is the one climbing the Hogan Stand steps on Saturday evening, he’ll be the first London captain to do so since Kilburn Gaels’ Colm Quinn 13 years ago. Quinn’s home county? Well, that would be Clare.
Surely that couldn’t be an omen…..could it?