Glen midfielder Conor Glass admitted that the upcoming rematch with Kilmacud Crokes quickly moved to the forefront of his mind after they sealed back-to-back Ulster titles by beating Scotstown in Armagh.
Trailing by two points at the interval, the Derry champions delivered an authoritative second-half display, with Glass and Eunan Mulholland to the fore as they powered to a 0-13 to 0-11 win over the Monaghan kingpins in the driving rain.
The win tees up an All-Ireland semi-final clash with Kilmacud Crokes on 6 January, a year on from their controversial All-Ireland decider, in which the Dublin side wound up with a 16th player on the pitch for the final play of the game, a detail which dominated headlines for days afterwards.
Nine days after the final, the CCCC dramatically ordered a replay, a decision which was swiftly appealed by Crokes. The controversy finally ended on 3 February when Glen withdrew their initial appeal of the result.
However, with both sides regaining their provincial crowns, the long-touted rematch can now take place.
Asked whether the possibility of facing Kilmacud again had been on his mind, Glass told RTÉ Sport: "One hundred percent. I'd be lying and playing it down [saying] that I didn't think that.
"It's a long way back. We started back with Glen in June and July and it's a long process. We can only take it one step at a time but our sole focus was getting back to an All-Ireland final.
"That's as blunt as it was. We're in a position to do so and we'll give it a good crack.
"We obviously knew that the Ulster champions play the Leinster champions, so we knew that would be an eventuality.
"Our focus was on Scotstown. But now it's purely on Kilmacud. They're a fantastic team, they're going for two-in-a-row.
"We'll be putting our best foot forward to go at them.
"It's a nice wee present before Christmas. But back to work after that and our sole focus will be on Kilmacud."
The game itself was an engrossing and high-quality affair in the context of the conditions, the pitch in Armagh being battered by heavy rainfall in advance of the throw-in.
While the wind and rain wasn't quite as debilitating as at the Munster final in Limerick, it was still difficult for the players.
"You have a plan going in the game. But in those sorts of conditions, the plan goes out the window," said Glass.
"You can't do what you want to do in those conditions, whether it be kick-outs, the way you defend, the way you attack.
"Ulster finals are never going to be easy. Scotstown are a fantastic team. But it was just grit and determination and passion that got us through.
"We were in it last year against Kilcoo and got a last-minute goal to seal it. So, we knew we had the characteristics to perform in those dying moments. And thank God we did."
Having only claimed their first Derry senior title in 2021, Glen's trophy cabinet is filling up fast, with three county titles and now two Ulster crowns on the bounce - with only the All-Ireland title remaining.
All that silverware has been won under the stewardship of Malachy O'Rourke, who achieved so much with Monaghan in the 2010s and is now presiding over Glen's greatest era.
"We've had a lot of success the last couple of years but you don't get sick of it.
"The effort this group of boys and the management, and the whole community, put in to get this team to where they are now, it's a credit to them.
"We're only here for a short time. We don't own the team, we're only borrowing the shirt. It's our job to put this club forward over the next five or ten years of playing.
"Malachy coming three or four years ago was a massive help, with the professionalism he brings.
"He's been there and done that with Monaghan and Loup. We're privileged to have him. Him and Ryan [Porter] and the rest of the backroom team.
"We're just his followers really. Whatever he says, we do. This success is for him too."
