Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1466433
www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2022 | 23 INTERVIEW spot in the NFL top-tier for 2023. "To be honest, we're absolutely shell-shocked. We've put in the work since a good few months ago so hard work pays off. We always knew the game was going to be in the melting pot at some stage," McGlynn acknowledged. "We just had to keep our heads, to be honest with you. Minding the ball is a big thing for us. Keep it simple. There's no point complicating football. It's simple. Ball in hand, over the bar. Luckily we did it and we won. You need those days. There's a great buzz in the camp and it's only going to get stronger and stronger. It's only the beginning of Kerry." Whereas 11 of the team also started last year's Division 2 showpiece reversal to Meath, McGlynn faced the Royal County under radically different circumstances. At Donaghmore/ Ashbourne GAA club on December 11, 2021, she was part of the TG4 Underdogs side that battled it out with the All-Ireland senior champions for the Glenveagh Cup crown. Meath may have come away with the spoils on the day, but McGlynn's contribution over the course of this televised series clearly left an impression on Kerry's joint-management team of Declan Quill and Darragh Long, who called her into the panel for this year's Lidl National League. After bagging 1-1 as a substitute in a Group A defeat of Laois on March 6, McGlynn was thrust into the starting line-up for a semi-final showdown with Monaghan at Tuam Stadium two weeks later and retained her place for the subsequent national decider at Croke Park. While she enjoyed an initially routine build- up to the latter, the magnitude of what was about to unfold did eventually hit home. "The nerves didn't hit me until this morning [the day of the game], which is kind of different. Normally with my club games it'd hit me a few days before. I pretended I was in Fossa field, eyes closed and I played my game. That's all I could do. "Myself, I'd be one of the younger ones now. Obviously the girls have been through the experience, but it's just about building on experience to get more comfortable in it. We all love playing football, that's why we're here. Of course it's going to shine on the day." The concept of joint managers isn't a new one for Gaelic games and there are plenty of examples that you could choose from either side of Quill and Long's ratification by the Kerry ladies county board in the winter of 2019. Sealing a return to Division 1 suggests the squad are moving in the right direction under their stewardship, but they are far from alone in a heavily-stacked backroom team. "They're unbelievable and they've the girls in the background as well. The likes of Geraldine O'Shea and Cassandra Buckley with strength and conditioning. Even Michelle O'Connor and Sophie Houlihan [team physio], they're all on board. "That's what you need. There's no such thing as a one-man show. We're a group, we stick together. I think that's the reason we came out the other side today." Still just 22, McGlynn is currently in the third year of a teacher training course at UCC. The past few months has involved a lot of travelling in and out of the Rebel County, but the nature of the Kingdom set-up ensures it will never be seen as a burden. "WE JUST HAD TO KEEP OUR HEADS, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. MINDING THE BALL IS A BIG THING FOR US. KEEP IT SIMPLE. THERE'S NO POINT COMPLICATING FOOTBALL. IT'S SIMPLE. BALL IN HAND, OVER THE BAR. LUCKILY WE DID IT AND WE WON."