Keelan Sexton contributed a magnificent haul of 1-10 at Grangegorman ltonight to power UL to a surprise victory over DIT in the opening round of the Sigerson Cup.

There was little to separate the sides early on, with Sexton and DIT centre-forward Ronan O’Toole doing much of the heavy lifting in attack.

However, UL finally created some daylight between the teams on 20 minutes when Sexton’s speculative effort floated beyond the reach of opposition netminder Mark Jackson.

Sexton’s dead-ball accuracy ensured UL remained in front approaching the interval, before the aforementioned O’Toole fired home in stoppage-time to leave the teams tied at 1-7 apiece.

With ace Dublin forward Brian Howard amongst their ranks, DIT – Sigerson champions in 2013 – were expected to push after the resumption. Yet, despite bringing a slender advantage into the final-quarter (1-10 to 1-9), UL turned the tables courtesy of four points without reply from the outstanding Sexton.

Scorers – UL: K Sexton 1-10 (7f), E Lawless 0-2, P Maxwell 0-1. DIT: R O’Toole 1-4, M Jackson 0-3 (2f, 1 ’45’), J Conlon 0-2, T Keane (f), C Pearson, R O’Brien 0-1 each.

UL – S Long; M Reidy, G White, F Flanagan; P Maxwell, J Cunnane, J O’Connor; D Bohannon, U Harney; F McDonagh, C Linnane, E Lawless; K Sexton, T Hoare, J Lyons. Subs: B Friel for McDonagh (28), N Rabbitte for Friel (43), J Ronayne for Linnane (52), P Maher for Hoare (59).

DIT – M Jackson; J McCusker, B Power, A McGowan; D Toner, S Flanagan, F O’Shea; S Hurley, R O’Brien; C Pearson, R O’Toole, B Howard; L Loughlin, O Lynch, J Conlon. Subs: T Keane for Toner (38), K O’Gara for Loughlin (52), D Monahan for Flanagan (55), F Maguire for Pearson (60).

REF – A Nolan (Wicklow)