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It may be just a few days since Kilcummin clinched a historic All-Ireland title in Croke Park but club captain Brendan Kealy says he and his teammates are already plotting further success in 2019.

Speaking to the Killarney Advertiser this week, the experienced goalkeeper described the aftermath of their triumph as a “whirlwind” but despite the well-deserved celebrations, one eye is firmly fixed on the next phase of the team’s progression.

“Over the last few days there were conversations between the players, talking about this coming year and how we need to drive it on,” Kealy said. “That’s the important thing. It’s not about winning and standing still. When you have success, that’s the time to start building.

“We’ll maybe get these few days out of the way and next week we’ll really start focussing on the year ahead.”

The 33-year-old former Kerry keeper was a key player for Kilcummin on Saturday, coming to his side’s rescue on no fewer than three occasions to save certain goals. It was a special day for Kealy, one he ranks as one of the greatest of his career, but he was quick to emphasise the importance of the victory for everyone involved with the club.

“Even though we had been playing senior football for 22 years, to win this All-Ireland… It’s huge. There are people who have been doing Trojan work in the club down through the years without a whole pile of success to celebrate. For people like that, it’s fantastic.

“There’s something different about winning with your club, there definitely is. When you’re on the pitch there after the final whistle, you look up to the stand and you know every single face. You have a personal connection with everyone who’s there, and you think of the people who couldn’t be at the game as well. It’s huge for everyone.”

Kealy played a captain’s role but there were certainly no arguments when sharp-shooting forward Kevin McCarthy was named Man of the Match (except from teammate Noel Duggan, who jokingly tweeted that the decision was a “joke”).

McCarthy was in outrageous form. He racked up 3-7 in an incredible performance that was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he is still recovering from a broken arm. His skipper was certainly impressed with McCarthy but, tellingly, he was not surprised.

“3-7, all from play… I can’t remember ever seeing that from one player, let alone in an All-Ireland final. But it’s not surprising to us.

“Kevin has missed a lot of football recently but he keeps himself fit. He has been flying. We just let him loose in Croke Park the last day and he tore into it. He was fantastic.

“But that’s what Kevin is capable of. We all know that, he’s been doing that with us for years. Sometimes with Kerry he plays a different role and maybe people outside of Kilcummin don’t realise the scoring threat that he actually is, but the man is a serious inside forward.”

Kilcummin appear to be well-equipped to deal with the rigours of senior football and Kealy is optimistic that their squad could be getting even stronger.

“We’ll hopefully have a couple of new faces coming in. You have Paul O’Shea and Keith O’Leary from the minors and we might pick up one or two more who are returning home. That’s good. It freshens the whole thing up again.

“There are lot of developments going on off the field as well in Kilcummin so the club has a bit of momentum. It’s important that we keep driving it on.”

Pic: Sportsfile.