County final will be 'a huge battle' says Celbridge captain Mick O'Grady
Daragh Nolan spoke to the Celbridge captain ahead of this Sunday's county final
Celbridge have reached back-to-back county finals and it will be a repeat of their 2023 clash as they face Naas to decide this year’s Senior Football Championship
Celbridge captain Mick O’Grady said, “We are absolutely delighted to be where we are. We knew this year was going to be extremely tough to build ourselves up to get back to this position after the disappointment last year. We’ve only got one Senior Football Championship win in the club, they don’t come around too often for us, so as a group we are extremely excited about it.”
The now finalists emerged from their semi-final clash with Sarsfields with a 1-11 to 0-12 win after extra-time. The game drew plenty of attention for its low-scoring full-time score of 0-9 each and the five-point lead that was let slip by the favoured Celbridge.
O’Grady added, “We had a massive battle against Sarsfields the last day. It probably wasn’t a spectacle to watch, but it was a very physical game. In previous years we have come out on the wrong side of those games so we showed good character to get over the line. It is probably a different route to the final than last year when we had really good performances coming into it, whereas this year our football wasn’t at the highest level, but we showed a different edge. We still feel there is another gear in the group, so I am hoping we deliver that performance in the final.”
Celbridge face county champions Naas who are aiming for a fourth consecutive Senior Football Championship title and got past Athy in their semi-final encounter.
“I was at it and it was a brilliant battle. We have the highest respect for Naas and what they have done in terms of raising the standards in Kildare football. Everyone is chasing them at the moment and we know that it is a huge battle ahead of us, but there has been nothing between us recently,” O’Grady said.
“There wasn’t a massive amount in the final last year and it was very close until a late goal in the semi-final before that too. There is not a huge amount between the teams so hopefully it is a brilliant game for neutrals and that we come out the right side of it this year.”
O’Grady concluded with his thoughts on the subplot of this year’s county final, the reopening of St Conleth’s Park. He said, “It is a credit to the County Board and to the Elliott Group with what they did up there, it looks fantastic. The new stand looks superb and the surface looks brilliant as well.”