Speaking to Sky Sports, Ryan said that it was the team’s best display under his tenure.

“Oh yeah, it’s Kildare’s first time beating a Division 1 team in the Championship in quite some time,” he said.

“So we’re not looking at a year or two years, we’re looking at a long time.

“So it’s massive for us – really, really good. Great for the guys’ confidence, great for their belief.

“The last two years we haven’t been playing football in the quarter-finals so now we’re back in the quarter-finals and it’s just brilliant.

“I’m delighted.”

Asked to explain Kildare’s return to form against Cork today, he responded: “Well, I think the Dublin game really hurt us, it was a game that refocused [us], and getting over the Offaly match was really, really sticky.

“Our focus since the Offaly game in particular has been excellent.

“The guys themselves deserve all the credit for picking themselves up after the Dublin game and the performance today - the players’ attitude and the intensity with which they played – and I suppose the first half in particular, the way we were taking the ball well, and for most of our scoring chances, when they came along, we executed them.

“We were that bit more clinical than maybe what we have been in the past.

“I’m really proud of the players today, it was a big performance by them, they worked very, very, very hard and it’s a game that they deserve now.”

When asked what he thought of the prospect of facing Kerry, he responded: “We’ll worry about who we’re playing maybe in a few hours’ time.

“Right here, right now we’re going to try to savour the moment. We’ve been waiting a while for this.”