Charlie Smyth scores the game-winner in his New Orleans Saints pre season debut

Smyth – who is hoping that an impressive pre season outing will see him earn a spot on the roster for the regular season – is aiming to become the first ever Irish born and raised person to play in an NFL game.

The Saints trailed 14-13 with seconds ticking down on clock, and Smyth was trusted by his coaches to step up to the mark and kick from 37 yards out with the fate of the game in his hands.

He made no mistake, splitting the posts and sealing the win for his team – a moment which Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen described as ‘awesome’.

“I think in that situation, at the end of the game like that, we would have kicked it from 60 (yards).

“I felt good about him [Smyth] hitting the distance, I wasn’t worried about that at all. I thought it was awesome. It was not just his first kick in an NFL game, but in an American football game.

“For him to knock it through like that in a pressure situation was cool to see.”

Saints quarterback Derek Carr was also full of praise for the Irish kicker, saying: “He was juiced, and rightly so.

“I didn’t know this, he just told us this – he hadn’t kicked a football a year ago. To go out there an kick a game-winner. That’s a moment he’ll remember forever. That’s pretty awesome.”