Sigerson Cup Semi-final/Queen's University 1-10 UCD 0-9: Surprise was the main element in yesterday's deserved victory for Queen's University, Belfast, as they zipped past a somewhat disconcerted UCD to secure their place in this afternoon's Sigerson Cup final. Ian O'Riordan at Sarsfield Park reports
A fast and highly competitive semi-final played on the immaculate surface of Sarsfield Park in west Belfast was dominated by Queen's, who never once allowed UCD to get their noses in front.
With snow-covered hills providing a scenic backdrop the quality of football on display was remarkable on several counts, not least because it defied the otherwise arctic conditions. Some of the individual performances wouldn't have been lost in the height of the intercounty season, and the character of some scores was enough to warm any heart.
Should Queen's go on and beat Sligo IT this afternoon then it's certain corner forward Aidan Fegan will once again feature strongly. The burly Down player caused trouble throughout the hour, ending with 1-6, including one priceless sideline kick.
Yet Fegan had excellent support too in Billy Joe Padden, complete with the creativity of his famous father, and also Eoin McCartan, another of the more industrious forwards - and a brother of manager James McCartan, the Down footballer and a former Sigerson star with Queen's.
Despite that early dominance, Queen's did allow UCD to draw level at 0-7 apiece exactly three-quarters way through - primarily thanks to the stunning free-taking of Joe Sheridan of Meath.
From there it was anyone's game, yet only Queen's were able to raise their game to another gear, and they closed out comfortable winners.
For UCD, who were attempting to win their first Sigerson Cup in nine years, the trend continues then for falling at the last few hurdles. Manager Dave Billings had, on paper at least, some real talent at his disposal, but far too many of his players failed to deliver on their true potential.
Without Sheridan UCD would have been truly lost, although Paul Griffin and Brendan Ó hAnnaigh did their best to outplay the Queen's forwards.
Yet it simply wasn't enough, and had the Belfast students not kicked eight wides in the first half then the outcome would have been decided even earlier.
Instead, the killer score arrived just minutes after UCD had drawn level. Derry's Gavin Donaghy had just been called into duty when he made a bursting run into the UCD defence, then laid off the ball for Fegan to send it thundering into the net.
Afterwards McCartan, who sounded as relieved as he did hoarse, admitted that Queen's should have put UCD away a lot earlier. "Well that was a tough, physical battle," he said. "But to be honest I thought we should have gone in more than the couple of points up. We might have caught UCD by surprise alright, and it's always a little easier being underdogs, but I was definitely unhappy that we weren't further ahead."
He also singled out the influence of Donaghy, who went on to add a point from play: "Well, he does bring something different to the team, and we have used him like that a lot this year.
"But it's going to be a very tough final. Sligo will start as favourites and we might have lost that element of surprise. But we'll have good support again, so we'll see how it goes."
A demanding test like this won't do Queen's any favours going into this afternoon's final, but their commitment and team spirit can make up for any tiredness. Their midfield pair of Dick Clerkin and Martin McGrath never allowed UCD to get a grip on that area, and it meant that for long periods Darren Magee was out of sorts.
But with so many other UCD players having an off day the Dublin students can have no complaints. All five substitutes were introduced but none made a difference, and in the end they carried themselves with all the look of a heavily defeated team.
QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST: W McSorley; N Bogue, D McCartan, R O'Neill; C Rafferty, O Devine, S Kelly (0-1); M McGrath, D Clerkin; A Carr (0-1), J Clarke, K Oaks; E McCartan (0-1), BJ Padden, A Fegan (1-6, four frees, one sideline). Sub: P O'Hea for O'Neill (17 mins), G Donaghy (0-1) for Clarke (42 mins), C Dunne for Oaks (56 mins), J Shields for E McCartan (62 mins).
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN: C Mullin; B Ó hAnnaidh, C Evans, P Griffin; K McMahon, J Donoghue, D O hAnnaidh; D Magee, S Lucey; B Sheehan, J Hanly, L O hEineachain; JP Casey (0-2), J Sheridan (0-7, all frees), C Murphy. Subs: E Ó Cuiv for Evans (28 mins), N McNamee for Ó hÉineachain (35 mins), R Ronaghan for Sheehan (50 mins), J McCarthy for Donoghue (52 mins), J Sheery for Murphy (57 mins).
Referee: B White (Wexford)
