Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup quarter-final
DCU 4-13 TUS Midlands 3-13
DCU fought off a gallant TUS Midlands effort in a simply thrilling and brilliantly unpredictable Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup quarter-final tie tonight.
Sligo’s Luke Marren was a thorn in the side throughout, with Matthew Whittaker’s two second-half goals ultimately in vain.
TUS Midlands took a half-time lead over the hosts at the DCU Sportsgrounds, with Westmeath’s Brandon Kelly slotting the only goal of the first half.
Declan Kenny and Mark Gibbons also punished the north Dublin outfit with three pointed frees between them in that opening 30, with DCU grabbing eight of their nine scores from play against what proved a slightly meaner defence.
Three scores from Marren did help to keep them in touch, and the favourites only trailed by the bare minimum at the break, facing a 1-7 0-9 deficit.
It looked ominous, and so it proved, but not without a frenetic third quarter that produced four goals.
Tom Prior palmed home the first of those right after the whistle, with a pointed Whittaker effort dropping short and dipping into the net to cancel it out.
A fabulous solo goal from Whittaker looked to have the hosts on the rocks, only for Marren to instantly reply with a green flag as the lead switched hands three times in a matter of minutes.
Lorcan O’Dell was then introduced from the DCU bench, and a sumptuous nall from Marren teed the Dublin star up for a match-clinching third goal that took the sting out of it a little as a four-point lead was established 14 minutes from time.
The sides traded scores as DCU kept their opponents at arms’ length, with Eoghan O’Connor Flanagan’s opportunistic finish off a turnover putting the final nail in the coffin.
DCU advance to the semi-final draw where they cannot meet UCD due to a prior meeting in the 2025 edition of the higher education tournament.
Ulster University or TU Dublin await in the last four.