Offaly captain Paul McConway knows a bigger battle lies ahead when they clash with Longford in the Leinster Championship but was delighted with how his side expressed themselves in Croke Park.
Pat Flanagan’s men flashed 4-16 past their midland neighbours in the Division 4 final on Saturday, ending a barren run against Longford, which had seen defeat in both league and championship fixtures in the last 12 months.
The sides will meet in O’Connor Park, Tullamore on 16 May, with the winners due back in Croke Park to face Dublin.
Speaking to Midlands Sport, McConway said: “We wanted to come up to Croke Park and express ourselves. We’ve been threatening to do it all year and there’s probably no better place to open up really.
"In the second half the lads showed the talent that is in that dressing room.
"It fell for me, another day it could have gone blazing wide"
“Look, it’s a win, it’s a Division 4 title. We have to park in now and move on to [the game in] three weeks’ time.
“We haven’t beaten them in a while and it’s great to have the confidence that we know we can beat them. Three weeks' time [it’s] going to be a different game, it’s going to be a bigger battle.
"We realise that [this] game was a league final – you’ve got to play it on its merits.
“If you look at the lads we have in the forward line they are all capable of putting up high scores. These are all serious scoring forwards. I think people forget that.
"It’s great for them lads to go out and express themselves and open up. It’s just shows the flair we have in the team."
The Tullamore full-back also managed to get on the score sheet, planting an unstoppable shot past the Longford keeper on a rare foray up the field.
“I suppose I took a chance and sometimes they come off and sometimes they don’t,” he said.
"In fairness to [Bernard Allen] it was a great [pass]. It fell for me, another day it could have gone blazing wide but thank God, it went in.”
