UCD 0-13 Athlone IT 0-4
thlone IT are no match for impressive UCD
Athlone IT slipped out of the Sigerson Cup at the opening round stage having come off second best to a strong UCD side in Belfield on Tuesday evening last.
In reality, Athlone IT were always up against it facing a team which included the likes of Galway star Colin Forde and All-Ireland winning Dublin full-back Rory O’Carroll as well as Laois forward Donie Kingston.
However, it was a Westmeath man who shone brightest, albeit in the colour of the Dublin outfit, as Kinnegad native Alan Giles was to the fore with a four-point haul.
Giles was joined on the day by his fellow countyman Lorcan Smith, who made a telling contribution after being introduced as a second-half substitute, and they will both have a vital role to play for the students as the competition progresses.
Athlone IT were very much seen as underdogs heading into the contest and, in an effort to create an element of surprise, they made a number of positional switches in their forward division in time for the throw-in. The performance of their forward line was always going to be important as the UCD rearguard included the likes of Conor Forde and Rory O’Carroll, though the Kilmacud man was lining on this occasion in the centre-back position.
As it turned out, it was the Athlone defence who found themselves being stretched in the opening stages, as the students took the lead three minutes in thanks to a free from half-forward Conor Carthy.
His opposite number Eugene Clarke did have a couple of chances from placed balls inside the first five minutes, but he
fell just short on both occasions, and was left to rue the missed opportunities, when Laois talisman Donie Kingston kicked over a close-range free nine minutes in.
Athlone had been competing well around the middle third early on, though, and they finally got their account underway moments after Kingston’s score thanks to a towering score courtesy of midfielder Paul Bannon from all of 40 metres. Giles registered his first score of the tie 14 minutes in with the aid of the woodwork, before a successful free from Clarke two minutes later brought the margin back down to the bare minimum.
Frees were proving to be vital in the opening half, and Carthy was on hand for UCDonce again to slot over a 25-metre free after 18 minutes. Athlone were proving to be a hard nut to crack, however, as James Dolan cut into their lead once more with a long-range point from play following good work by defensive lynchpin Mark McCallon.
This was Athlone’s final score of the half unfortunately, as UCD finished the half much the stronger, with scores from Kingston (free), Giles and Armagh’s Kevin Dyas giving the hosts a 0-7 to 0-3 midway advantage. This gave the students a reasonable cushion over their Lake County opponents.
It was UCD who drew first blood after the restart as St Jude’s Colm Murphy kicked over superbly from just inside the Athlone ’45’ five minutes into the half. This was added to by points from half-back Shane Redmond and the ever-dangerous Giles to open up a seven-point gap between the sides. Athlone were starting to find the going tough. And as well as struggling to get good quality ball into their inside forward line, their defence was simultaneously being forced on the back-foot on a frequent basis.
Theyintroduced Danny McGovern and Ciaran Duggan, for Clarke and Diarmuid Maleady respectively, in an effort to curb the growing dominance of UCD, but it was the Metropolitan outfit who produced the next score of the contest when Smith, a 44th minute replacement for corner-forward David Larkin, brilliantly converted a long range free. As the game entered into the final quarter, it had all but drifted away from Athlone, who, nonetheless, continued to work tirelessly in their efforts to rescue something from their evening in the capital. Their strong work ethic did eventually give them their first score of the second half on 48 minutes, as the industrious David Egan managed to escape the clutches of his marker to kick over from a distance of 30 metres.
This proved to be scant consolation for Athlone, however, as it was their final score of the game. Smith registered his second free after his introduction from an angle on the right with five minutes remaining in normal time, and this was followed up by the outstanding Giles’ fourth point of the day four minutes later to ease UCD over the line in the end.
This defeat will no doubt have come as a disappointment to the Athlone management, but they can have no complaints about their defeat on the night, as they came up against a highly motivated and well-organised UCD side that should figure strongly in the remaining rounds of the Sigerson Cup, as well as the 2012 Dublin Senior Football Championship.
They can, however, take some solace from the performances of Gary Connaughton, McCallon, Bannon and Rhode’s Anton Sullivan, who all put in strong displays over the course of the 60 minutes of play.
UCD: Michael McGinley; Joshua Hayes, Colin Forde, Peter Kelly; Chris Barrett, Rory O’Carroll, Shane Redmond (0-1); Colm Murphy (0-1), Mark Coughlan; Conor Carthy (0-2, 2f), Kevin Dyas (0-1), Craig Dias; David Larkin, Donie Kingston (0-2, 2f), Alan Giles (0-4).
SUBS: Lorcan Smith for Larkin (44), Ryan Mallon for Carthy (46), Lewis Cawley for Dias (58), Luke Keaney for O’Carroll (59).
ATHLONE IT: Gary Connaughton; Richard Dunne, Cathal Duignan, Diarmuid Maleady; Aidan Rowan, Mark McCallon, Tomas Rahill; David Cash, Paul Bannon (0-1); Adam Caul, David Egan (0-1), Eugene Clarke (0-1, free); Anton Sullivan, James Dolan (0-1), Frank Burke.
SUBS: Danny McGovern for Clarke (33), Ciaran Duggan for Maleady (40), Peter Masterson for Rowan (55).
REFEREE: Maurice Deegan (Laois).