Smith hails impact of Kilcline as attention turns to Mayo
Patrick Gaynor and Ruairi Kilcline are all smiles after Roscommon's one-point Connacht U-20 football semi-final win against Galway in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park on Wednesday evening. Picture: Bernie O'Farrell
Roscommon U-20 football manager, Cian Smith, has hailed the impact of Ruairi Kilcline who tilted the pendulum in the Rossies’ favour against Galway on Wednesday evening.
The St. Dominic’s forward’s arrival resulted in a lucrative haul of 1-2 that saw Roscommon overturn a five-point deficit early in the second half to win by 2-10 to 0-15 and set up a Connacht final against hot favourites Mayo in Tuam Stadium on Wednesday evening.
“I am delighted for Ruairi. He is a great lad. He has been struggling with a back injury — he missed last week (against Leitrim).
“He was touch and go for today and we got as much out of him as we could. His impact was great and the goal was very similar to the goal in the Connacht final last year that was disallowed. Everyone that came on made an impact and that is what we want from them all,” Smith contended.
“When Galway got the momentum, we just had to steady the ship, and we did thankfully. I think we got the next five points, so their heads never went down and they pushed on,” he concluded.
