‘Not too many people win too many titles in their lives’

“County finals are never an easy one. Not too many people win too many in their lives,” said a delighted David Conway after his Grangenolvin were crowned Kildare Junior Football Champions.

“Playing and managing is a different feeling,” he explained. “When you're playing, you've only one job to do. When you're managing, you have so many things going through your head and so many different emotions.

“The heartbreak for some lads that aren't starting and aren't coming on. The players that you have to take off and everything. A county final is so special to everybody. All that weighs heavy on you.

“When you get the job done, you're a great lad. If you lose, you're not. So, there's a good weight off the shoulders and I'm very, very happy.” Grangenolvin came into the season on the back of three losing semi-finals, which Conways admits was weighing on the minds of his squad.

“To be fair, a lot of that group is fierce young. So, when you think about it, the majority of them lads actually would have played that first semi-final at 18 and 19, most of the team,” he said.

“It's not like it was seasoned campaigners that were losing semi-finals, but it is a psychological thing at the same time. The psychological thing of semi-finals has really weighed on them.” But rather than seeing that youth in the squad as a negative, Conway in fact says it was one of the key factors that attracted him to the job in the first place.

“When the opportunity arose, I definitely put my name in,” he said.

“There was a lot of good footballers there that would have went to Knockbeg College and my brother would have coached him. He would have known all the ability and talent was there.

“It was very exciting, but I couldn't get over their enthusiasm, their energy and their willingness to work hard. It was just phenomenal, so I couldn't speak highly enough of the group.” Looking ahead to the Leinster Junior Championship, Conway is aware of the provincial variables but believes his team can have a good run at it.

“In some counties it could be the 20th best team in the county - we're technically the 33rd best team in the county, here in Kildare,” he said. “There's other counties only of have eight at senior and eight and intermediate, so you could be playing their 17th best team.

“But from what I've seen and the way the lads represented themselves in the Division 2 League this year and in the Championship, I think Kildare can be in safe hands. We'll work hard and we'll do them proud.”