ALL-IRELAND CLUB SFC/Semi-final: Keith Duggan talks to the Wicklow club's manager about their quiet ambition and their instinct to just enjoy themselves

Ask Harry Murphy about the critical point of Rathnew's meteoric ascent through this year's All-Ireland club championship and he decides upon a subtle moment.

"There have been so many twists that you could probably pick any number of turning points. But I remember late in extra-time against Dunshaughlin, we were three points down and they broke free with the ball. Our goalkeeper had left his line and he kind of hit against their attacker, but nothing was called and it looked as if he was going to just roll the ball into the goal.

"Now, most of our players had given up the ghost, but two of the younger lads, Damien Power and Stephen Byrne, I think, kept chasing back. One of them stood on the goal line and the other harried the man with the ball and they forced him to take a point.

"It might have come to nothing, we were four points down and looked out of it. But, of course, we came back to get a draw and it was just that effort, that refusal to lie down, that stayed with me."

Because Murphy has known most of the Rathnew players all their lives, he has been a bit surprised by the degree of learning he has experienced on their unlikely journey through Leinster. After the drawn provincial final against Na Fianna, Murphy, never one to spoof, admitted that he believed Rathnew's best chance had come and gone.

"Maybe I underestimated us that day, but I really felt we had created enough chances to win it and it was hard to envisage us getting the same type of opportunity in the replay. But the players came out, won by nine points and kicked 15 wides. That was something."

The most striking thing about Rathnew is that the further they progressed, the more they behaved as if they had the right to be there. No "humble boys from the village" stuff. Against Na Fianna, they were visibly expressive on the field and the players' sense of certainty spread to the crowd.

"Yeah, they are a happy-go-lucky bunch of little effers. Look, they are loving every minute of this and milking it for all it is worth. It's the closest thing to fame many of them has experienced and they are enjoying it, we all are."

For Murphy, it has been a matter of balancing the team's ambition with their sense of wonderment, the unspoken knowledge that this might be the season of their lives.

"We fully intend to recapture the Leinster title again next year and to be in this position. But we are all realistic enough to know that going this far is very difficult. So we are also aware this is a marvellous opportunity to get to an All-Ireland final, which most clubs never get near.

"And it has been absolutely wonderful and surprising up to now. There is no pressure of fear at this point, we just want to savour the next day and keep it going."

Since the Leinster championship concluded just before Christmas, Rathnew have met regularly and played a few challenge games.

"Naturally, we were on such a roll before the break that we would have liked to keep it going. But training has been grand, everyone is looking forward to this and Ballinderry have had to cope with an even longer break than ourselves."

Although Murphy and his selectors, Joe McDonald and Edward Jackson, have had limited opportunity to study Ballinderry in the flesh, they are well aware of them through reputation.

"I know it took a goal to pull it out for them against Bellaghy in the Derry final. They have the same ability as ourselves to win the tight games. And they are a parish crowd, same as us, a small club going forward. They have the likes of Enda Muldoon and Declan Bateson, and I suppose if you compared Derry football with Wicklow, we wouldn't stand a chance.

"But county form doesn't really count in this competition. Obviously, football ability comes into it, but also understanding what you are about as a team. When we played Na Fianna, I felt that some of their players just didn't have anything to identify with when it mattered. I know that some of the true Na Fianna supporters wouldn't like to hear that, but that's the way it seemed. Ballinderry will have the same source of motivation as ourselves."

But Rathnew do yet have a few things to find out about themselves and have reduced tomorrow's semi-final to the simplest equation.

"All I know is that we are one of four teams that can win the All-Ireland club championship. We aren't looking past Ballinderry, but we really want to move to the next step. And again, we want to enjoy this, the whole experience."