Sport

DCU always in control for a double delight

DCU 1-11 UCC 0-10: DCU JUST had too much class for a determined UCC as they claimed their second ever Sigerson Cup and second…

Mon Mar 01 2010 - 00:00

DCU 1-11 UCC 0-10:DCU JUST had too much class for a determined UCC as they claimed their second ever Sigerson Cup and second trophy in six days with a deserved victory in Leixlip on Saturday.

Boasting a team rich in intercounty stars, the Dublin-based outfit were coming off a win in the O’Byrne Cup decider the previous Sunday and they never really looked like losing this.

Team manager, Niall Moyna, was delighted with the win but was clearly peeved by insinuations that the university had a policy of recruiting fully-fledged intercounty senior footballers.

“I think, to be fair to the bunch of lads, people come to DCU as undergraduate students and during their four or five years they develop and mature as football players and make their county teams.

READ MORE

“There’s a perception out there that they arrive into DCU as intercounty senior footballers and that’s not the case. They’re a great group of guys, they’ve worked very hard and this is just reward... (In the quarter-final) we beat a Cork IT team, a team of stars (with) five players that played in the All-Ireland final. We don’t have anyone of that quality. But for some reason we have got this tag.”

Brian Sheridan walked away with the man of the match award for his contribution of 1-5. The Meath man was unerring from placed balls but it was his composed finish to the UCC net in the 41st minute after a direct run from Cathal Cregg that gave the winners a six-point advantage and enabled them to hold off the defiant Leesiders in the final quarter.

Paul Flynn, Sheridan (two frees) and team captain Paddy Andrews all had points on the board before Kevin O’Driscoll finally got UCC off the mark in the 18th minute.

DCU were full value for their 0-6 to 0-3 interval lead and when Sheridan provided that consummate goal finish, it looked like curtains for the skull and crossbones.

The introduction of David Goold certainly had an impact for UCC though and he kicked two fine points within minutes. When Séamus Hayes added a score of his own, the deficit was down to three.

Significantly though, UCC did not create a goal opportunity until the deep into injury-time, when Mark Collins’s blistering drive was tipped over the bar by DCU goalkeeper Michael Boyle.

In the end, Sheridan even had the luxury of taking a point from a penalty in the 59th minute after he had been fouled.

DCU:M Boyle (Donegal); P McMahon (Dublin), K Gavin (Westmeath), K Nolan (Dublin); J Cooper (Dublin), B Cullen (Dublin), D Mooney (Monaghan); D Sheridan (Monaghan), H McGrillen (Kildare); R Flanagan (Cavan) (0-1, free), P Flynn (Dublin) (0-2), C Cregg (Roscommon) (0-1); P Andrews (Dublin) (0-1), B Sheridan (Meath) (1-5, 0-4 frees, 0-1 penalty), D Kelly (Sligo) (0-1). Replacements:H Gill (Dublin) for Cooper (43 mins), M Lyng (Cavan) for Cregg (54 mins).

UCC:K O'Halloran (Cork); E Cotter (Cork), E Hegarty (Cork), S Enright (Kerry); D Limrick (Cork), A Greaney (Kerry), P Corrigan (Cork); M Shields (Cork), J Buckley (Kerry); K O'Driscoll (Cork) (0-1), S Kiely (Cork), D Casey (Kerry) (0-2); B O'Driscoll (Cork) (0-2, frees), S Hayes (Cork) (0-1), D Kearney (Cork). Replacements:P Crowley (Kerry) for Greaney (half-time); D Goold (Cork) (0-2) for Kiely (39 mins), M Collins (Cork) (0-2) for K O'Driscoll (47 mins), B Daly (Cork) for Corrigan (54 mins); P Honohan (Cork) for Kearney (58 mins). Referee:Marty Duffy (Sligo).