Johnny Kelly was keeping his feet firmly on the ground after Eoghan Cahill’s late, late ’65 earned Offaly a surprise Leinster SHC draw with Kilkenny at Glenisk O’Connor Park.

It was the Faithful County’s second draw of the campaign and leaves them on course for a top three finish in the round-robin series ahead of winnable games against Wexford in Tullamore next Saturday and away to newly-promoted Kildare the following weekend.

“Top three was always on our radar. When we set out, one of our goals was to get out of Leinster and to get into an (All-Ireland) quarter-final,” the Offaly manager said.

“Obviously it’s not as easy as that, we have to take into consideration injuries, the youthful panel and the lack of experience at this level. But we’re happy with where we’re at.”

Kelly added: “We have to park this straight away and get recovered because the reality is we have Wexford here next Saturday and that is going to be a massive challenge for us.

“I saw Wexford yesterday (against Dublin) and while they were beaten in the end, they fought really hard in the second half and they are going to bring massive fighting spirit here to Tullamore next Saturday. We are going to have to be ready for that.”

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