KILDARE boss Pat Sullivan says reaching the quarter-finals of the TG4 All-Ireland Championship is the stuff of dreams.
But he insists they are not going to settle for that after seeing off Armagh to reach the last eight.
Sullivan said: “It’s hard to put into words. Nobody outside of our circle gave us any chance. We drew with teams and beat teams in the league but we still were given no chance.”
After their superb 1-12 to 1-10 win away to Armagh, Sullivan said: “We had a lot of anger and this is a really good squad.
“Our first year in Division 1, there’s no player in this circle has ever been in an All-Ireland quarter-final. So to achieve what they’ve achieved is a dream.”
Their reward is a quarter-final date with reigning champions Kerry, with the winners of that meeting either Meath or Tipperary in the semis.
Sullivan added: “We’re not there to make up the numbers, we’re there to give it everything and we’re delighted to be there.”
Kildare captain Laoise Lenehan finished to the net after being set up by Róisín Byrne as Kildare surged into a five-point lead in the second half.
Armagh responded well and their captain Lauren McConville netted after being teed up by Niamh Henderson, before Aimee Mackin cut the gap to the minimum.
But Mia Ryan’s second point wrapped up the win for the Lilywhites.
Orchard boss Darnell Parkinson said: “We’re absolutely gutted for that group of players. Today, for whatever reason, just wasn’t our day.”
Tipperary delivered their best performance of the year as they beat Donegal by 0-11 to 1-6 in Bansha to set up a quarter-final with Meath.
A superb display from Anna Rose Kennedy helped Tipp into a 0-8 to 0-3 interval lead.
Boss Ed Burke said: “In the first half we really controlled the game. We kicked some lovely scores from distance, we were patient, and we restricted their scoring. It was a real serious team performance.”
Donegal rallied and a goal from Jodie McFadden gave them hope but while they got the gap down to the minimum at one stage, they were unable to save the day.
Manager James Daly said: “We didn’t play in the first half, in the second we had more grit.
“It’s a very young team and there will be bumps along the road.”
Goals in each half from Katie Quirke sent Cork into the All-Ireland quarter-finals as they held off a late Mayo fightback in Castlebar to advance by 3-8 to 1-10.
Boss Joe Carroll admitted: “The goals were crucial. We’ll just have to get ourselves ready for Dublin, an exceptional team.”
Waterford had six different goalscorers as they crushed Leitrim by 6-16 to 3-4 to book a quarter-final date with Galway.
Full-forward Clare Walsh said: “The first 15 minutes their backs were on top. Once we got into the flow, the points and the scores came.”
Leitrim boss Jonny Garrity said: “This year was always going to be a steep learning curve. We’ll never be happy in defeat but we are happy with what they showed.”
