‘We showed our steel big time’ — Carthy

Roscommon U-20 football captain Eoghan Carthy hailed his side's steel in the aftermath of Wednesday evening’s epic 5-16 to 2-22 victory against Mayo at Tuam Stadium.

Carthy, who was also named TG4 Player of the Match, led the Rossies to their second provincial crown in three years, revealing that his side always believed that they could get the job done despite falling eight points behind in the opening half.

“It was one hell of a battle. We went down by eight points but, as Cian (Smith) said before the game started, we’re well-used to these types of situations. We showed our steel big time in the latter stages.

“The goal before half time was huge. We were under the cosh big time. The goal gave us a bit of life, gave us something to work towards in the second half, and we used it to our advantage."

“It’s a 20-man game nowadays, and lucky for us in Roscommon, we have the players to come off the bench and make an impact.

Cathy’s inspirational two-pointer — his second orange flag of the game — nudged his side into the lead in the second period of extra time, a score he revealed emanated from countless hours on the training ground.

“If you don’t do it in training, you won’t do it in a game. It’s the hours that people don’t see. It came off today, other days it doesn’t,” he stated.

In the space of seven days, Roscommon have defeated Galway and Mayo — teams that had beaten them in the group stages of the championship — leading Carthy to deduce that it was down to the calibre of player at Cian Smith’s disposal.

“Once we played Leitrim, our focus was on the Galway game. We go game by game. We don’t get ahead of ourselves. We knew that there were two huge games ahead of us, and the way we handled them — I couldn’t ask any more of the lads.

“We met up in November, and I could see straight away the character we have in our group. It’s an absolute honour to captain them and play alongside them, and know that when the going gets tough, they won’t wilt,” he said.