Late hero McGraynor says O’Dwyer was his inspiration
The youngster from Avondale made his championship debut, coming off the bench in the 62nd minute to kick 1-1 in a dream scenario.
“I’m going for the scholarship so hopefully today will help. A few headlines and I’ll stick them in the portfolio and bring them up with me,” he laughed.
“They were saying to me I was going on and then I wasn’t, and I was getting cold because I wasn’t warmed up. I went on and the ball came to me and I said ‘goal, this is it we need a goal’. I threw the auld dummy too and it was to Leighton Glynn so he wouldn’t have forgiven me if I missed.”
But the point he kicked five minutes later gave him much more satisfaction. “I enjoyed the point more because I think when I got the goal people were saying ‘he just got a goal’ but when I got the point after they might have said ‘jaysus maybe he’s not too bad’.
“I had a little fist pump then because I knew we had a four-point lead and that was it.”
Mick O’Dwyer has been a huge influence on McGraynor. He spotted him at training and brought him on in the league a couple of times to blood him but it was his few vital words before he entered the championship cauldron that made all the difference.
“It’s great having Micko in the dressing room. He gives you confidence but doesn’t let your head get too inflated. He keeps driving you on and he gave me a few words of encouragement before I went on and I said ‘let’s do it now for Micko’.
“I’d love another qualifier run here. I was here in the lashing rain against Fermanagh and Down and when Tony Hannon kicked that winning point I was down on my knees screaming. People round me were wondering why but I think they know why now because they can see just what it means to me playing football. We’re building the fortress down (in Aughrim) here so we are. We love it. It suits us. If we have to go away from home it wouldn’t matter either.”
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