U-20 footballers heading to Thurles with a pep in their step

The confidence gleaned from coming out on the right side of a pulsating Connacht final should give the Roscommon U-20 footballers an extra pep in their step for this Wednesday’s Dalata Hotel Group sponsored All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry at FBD Semple Stadium, according to Cian Smith.

Roscommon will be hoping to reach their first All-Ireland final since 2021, and Smith is backing his players to eke out the necessary improvement to go toe to toe with Tomás Ó Sé’s Munster champions when the ball is thrown in at 7.30 p.m. in Thurles.

“It will take the same (performance) again minimum (against Mayo), and a little improvement. That’s what you’re looking for every day you go out. But we’ve seen that throughout this campaign.

“Kerry are an excellent team. We’ve been keeping an eye on the Munster championship from a long way out. We went down and watched the Munster final. We’ve done a good prep on them, as we’ve done on every team. The lads are ready, so it’s a case of getting to Wednesday and seeing how it goes,” the Roscommon manager said.

While it took everyone a while to come down from the high of snapping Mayo’s resistance in Tuam, Smith outlined afterwards that there would be plenty of time for celebrations when Roscommon’s campaign was over. It appears that the Boyle native has stuck to his word.

“We were back at it on the Friday after the Connacht final. We did a small bit as well over that weekend. But last week was a full-on week. The lads are in great form, as you’d expect. There were a lot of tired and sore bodies but, thankfully, they’re coming around, and they’ll be raring to go.

“A bigger issue is that a lot of them are either finishing up or starting exams in college. It’s a very busy time for them,” he highlighted.

Roscommon are going to require another huge performance against a Kerry team that contains a lethal full-forward line in Gearóid White, Tomás Kennedy and Paddy Lane who hit 3-9 out of the winners’ total of 3-14 against Cork.

Daniel Kirby and Evan Boyle are a formidable midfield pairing, while Aodhna Ó Beaglaoich — younger brother of senior star Brian — is a commanding centre-back.

While Roscommon didn’t fully negate Mayo’s star quality, their sheer resilience and courage ensured that they were still standing after extra time.

“It’s something we would have known a long way out with these lads. We’ve done a lot of tough training and there has never been a question or a doubt among the players about anything we’ve done. Every player has answered the call every night at training, and that’s what is coming through in games.

“We’ve always known that if we’re in the game, with ten minutes left, our lads won’t let us down in terms of their effort and fitness levels.

“The first half against Mayo was similar to a lot of the games. We had a lot of ball, but we just weren’t clinical enough up front. It was mentioned at half time.

“In fairness, while we still had a few issues in the second half, the performance was a lot better. We were more economical on the ball, and when the opportunities arose, we took them. But we have good footballers all over the pitch, and we back them every day they go out,” Smith explained.

Much has been made about the game being played on a Wednesday evening, and while Smith believes that games of such importance should be accommodated on more favourable days, travelling to Thurles isn’t a problem, albeit there is an inconvenience for supporters who would like to see the match.

“I have no problem going to Thurles to play the game. We’d play Kerry anywhere. The wider issue here is that an All-Ireland semi-final shouldn’t be played on a Wednesday evening, in my opinion. But it is what it is, and we’ll just get on with it,” he concluded.