Busy off-season for Kiltimagh/Knock after key departures
Kiltimagh/Knock United manager James Costello has been a busy man in the off-season. Picture: Michael Donnelly
Kiltimagh/Knock United exploded into the Super League in 2022 and established themselves as potential contenders by the end of a brilliant first season back in the top division. This would prove to be a false dawn for K/K and they struggled to replicate this last season, with the likes of Castlebar Celtic and Westport United driving on past them.
James Costello has been a busy man in the offseason, hoovering up attacking talent to boost his squad coming into a season where K/K are not expected to challenge for the title but also not expected to be anywhere near the drop.
He has added Lorcan Conroy from Manulla, Joseph Glynn from Ballyvary, Michael McGarry and Robert Jordan to the squad led from the front by the lethal Jack O’Connor, who has been pulling up trees for Mayo in the Oscar Traynor Cup.
Kiltimagh/Knock United manager James Costello admits it may be a season of transition for his side in the Super League this year,
A loss of key players midway through last season saw them finish fifth and they will be looking to gel the new players with the existing crop.
The league we probably didn't do as well as we'd hoped,” said Costello. “I think we had a lot of injuries and suspensions around key times and we kind of lost a few games there. There were probably games that we probably should have been winning that we didn't get the result in.
“That was the disappointing part, but then we were able to put a run together in the cup and get to the cup final and then just lose out unfortunately to a last minute goal. We have been a bit disappointed with the season, but still it was a good show in the cup.
“They were big key players to us that we lost so this year is probably going to be a bit of a transitional season. We're trying to get a few players in like we've got. There's a few lads that moved into the local area that we've got in, also a few young lads like Ethan Hosty."
Captain Ronan Malee knows that Kiltimagh/Knock can compete with anyone on their day. While it may be a period of transition, he knows a good start could see them push higher up the table.
“It's a bit of a transition at the minute compared to when we came up. We went on a very good run and it culminated in a title challenge. Maybe we were a year ahead of what we thought.
“We go out every game to be competitive and you know even last season after the Cup Final we were competitive with everybody. We beat Ballina Town at home, we should have really beat Celtic. We were 3-1 up with 15 minutes to go in the last league game. On our day we’re competitive so I suppose to finish as high as we can to improve on fifth and fourth finishes over the last two years is really what we want to do.
