UCD squeeze past UL by minimum to make Sigerson Cup final
UCD 2-12 UL 1-14
Daire Walsh
Jonathan Lynam and David Garland struck second half goals at SETU Carlow as UCD squeezed past UL by the slenderest of margins to book their place in this year’s Sigerson Cup final.
While the Dublin outfit held an early advantage, their Limerick counterparts edged in front on eight minutes when Paul Keaney scrambled the ball to the net – after UCD goalkeeper Killian Roche couldn’t hold onto a Ciaran Downes ‘45’.
Additional points courtesy of Downes, Jack McCabe and Darragh Cashman subsequently moved UL four ahead, before six points on the bounce from Diarmuid Moriarty (2), Aaron Lynch (2), Garland and Daire Cregg ultimately propelled 34-time champions UCD into a 0-8 to 1-4 interval cushion.
John Divilly’s charges were boosted even further by Lynam’s goal within 60 seconds of the restart and with Moriarty and Garland finding the target either side of a Paul Walsh free, they were in pole position for a showpiece spot.
Yet UL weren’t prepared to go down without a fight and brought their deficit down to a single score with a brace of points from both Downes and Frank Irwin.
UCD secured significant breathing space when Garland palmed home on 53 minutes, but the bare minimum separated the teams once again when goalkeeper Conor Flaherty, Downes and Brian McNamara registered unanswered efforts for UL.
The gap then remained at one point when Cregg and Irwin raised white flags at opposite ends, but even though UL had a couple of chances to force extra-time, UCD ultimately prevailed in the end.
Scorers – UCD: D Garland 1-3 (0-2f), D Moriarty 0-4, J Lynam 1-0, D Cregg 0-3 (1f), A Lynch 0-2 (1 mark). UL: P Keaney 1-1 (0-1f), C Downes 0-4 (1f), F Irwin 0-3 (2f), P Walsh 0-2 (2f), J McCabe, D Cashman, C Flaherty, B McNamara 0-1 each.
UCD: K Roche; L Smith, R Brickenden, D McElearney; R O’Toole, S Callinan, S Coffey; P Duffy, J Lynam; D Gilmore, D Cregg, D Moriarty; A Lynch, B O’Carroll, D Garland. Subs: C Egan for O’Carroll (30), C Bolton for Lynch (h-t), L Costello for Moriarty (49), K Kennedy for Coffey (55), S Forker for Duffy (61).
UL: C Flaherty; C Moriarty, M Dempsey, C Keogh; D Cashman, C Glennon, D Walsh; C Ryan, B McNamara; F Irwin, P Keaney, S McDonnell; P Walsh, C Downes, J McCabe. Subs: F Kelly for Glennon, J Fallon for McDonnell (both h-t), D Heneghan for Keaney (34), G Hassett for McCabe (41), C McHale for Walsh (55).
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare).