Kilmacud Crokes manager Paddy Carr sung the praises of his players after their comeback victory over Rhode in the Leinster club football final. The Dublin champions recovered from a six-point half-time deficit to win by three, despite playing 46 minutes of the game with just 14 players. "We knew that Rhode would bring the best out of us, but in the entire first half were didn't get out of first gear and were a yard off the pace," he said. "What we appealed to in the dressing room at half-time was the character of the lads. They have made huge sacrifices, extraordinary, and the key thing was to forget about the scoreboard. "What we wanted was that everyone could come in and look each other straight in the face knowing that they'd given maximum effort and honesty. What they gave us in the second half was just that. "Those lads absolutely emptied themselves out there." Carr's Rhode counterpart Tom Coffey cut a dejected figure afterwards. "We knew they'd come back but we hoped we'd put a few balls over the bar and try to drive it from six points to seven and to eight and to nine," the former Offaly star said. "Unfortunately, they got back at us before we got at them and before long it was level. Most games are won in the last 10 minutes and that's when we struggled. Conditions were very heavy here and they replaced a few guys and they have five or six subs equally as good as what started." Tweet

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