"The team is definitely building towards something bigger, we are going somewhere now"

As James McGrath stood in the middle of Cedral St Conleths Park shortly after the final whistle and surveyed all around him, he was a very happy young man.

Kildare had just beaten Offaly to set up a Tailteann Cup semi-final against Fermanagh on Sunday in Croke Park (throw in 4pm) and as the jubilant supporters celebrated around him, he said this could be just the start of something special.

“The team is definitely building towards something bigger, we are going somewhere now,” said the Athy man.

Where that will lead to in the long term, who knows? But McGrath was just happy to take in a huge Championship win on home turf in front of such passionate support.

“It’s exhilarating, getting the boost from the crowd. They are the 16th man, that’s huge for us,” said McGrath.

That Kildare got over the line and beat Offaly by a point owed much to McGrath’s magnificent individual goal in the 22nd minute. Perhaps Offaly underestimated what a defender could do in that sort of situation but the they did that to their peril as the mazy run ended with a superb finish and McGrath explained his thoughts while on the move “I just had the feeling that he thought I’d head back for some reason so I just thought I’d put the head down and belt on. Then it was just a matter of putting the head down and hitting it as hard you can and hoping for the best,” he said.

His manager was of course a wing back himself and McGrath that players in his position aren’t just encouraged to get forward and contribute on the scoresheet, it’s expected of them.

“Brian (Flanagan) is always pushing for the defence and the subs coming on to impact the game as much as possible with scores. Whenever you get the chance up there you might as well pull the trigger,” he said.

McGrath was of course one of the younger group of players who enjoyed the ultimate underage success under Flanagan and along with the likes of Ryan Sinkey and Colm Dalton has hit the ground running at senior level.

“He made it real easy. He gave the younger lads their opportunity and that made a huge difference with confidence and stuff. He treats everyone the same, old or young, and we’ll be going back to Croke Park with great confidence now,” said McGrath.

He was pleased that Kildare were able to show the resolve to dig in and win by a point but said that nobody should be surprised.

“There’s a serious resilience in the group, a real never say die attitude and we knew we’d get the job done.

“Especially after losing to twice before, especially in that league final. We felt we had more in us each time so to come away with a one point victory is sweet,” he said.

Offaly’s exit from the competition, coupled with Wicklow’s win over Westmeath the following day, means that Kildare have been installed as firm favourites for the competition but all eyes and full focus will be on that Fermanagh clash. That takes place at Croke Park as part of a double header with the other semi-final between Wicklow and Limerick throwing in at 2pm.