Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup Final: DCU 1-16 UCD 3-6
UCD brought the stars out west, but DCU brought a cohesive strategy and a collective sense of purpose to the Connacht Centre of Excellence in Mayo, and it brought them their sixth ever Sigerson Cup title and their first since 2020, all at the expense of their neighbours and rivals from across the city.
Four points was the winning margin, but anyone involved in either panel, or even any of the few hundred supporters that travelled, will know that UCD were flattered to be so close, having been utterly dominated by DCU’s energy, kickout strategy, and their slicker attacking play.
Monaghan county star Ryan O’Toole struck an excellent early goal for UCD, driving a low shot into the bottom corner of the DCU net from 15 metres out to cancel out excellent early points from the impressive Skerries duo of Ethan Dunne and Greg McEneaney.
It was notable however that UCD scored just four times in the first half, including one free, one good point from Luke Breathnach, and two scores from defenders – O’Toole’s goal and a close-range score from Theo Clancy.
When it came to the men that were expected to carry the scoring load, the UCD attack floundered. A series of shots were dropped short and hit wide, and it was the favourites from the southside who were flattered by the 1-3 to 0-6 interval score.
The Roscommon duo of Ben O’Carroll and Daire Cregg had racked up some big tallies for John Divilly’s side over the course of this campaign but they struggled to get into this game, missing eight shots between them between wides and shots dropped short.
Much of this was due to the way that DCU successfully clogged up the back line, with only Luke Breathnach finding ways to unlock the defence with his clever lines of running and crisp use of the ball.
The writing was on the wall when Conor Heffernan and Niall Dolan nudged DCU into a second half lead with points to make it 1-4 to 0-8, but it was seven minutes into the second half when man of the match Ethan Dunne stood tall to take a hit and rifle the ball inside Killian Roche’s near post, and the roar from the DCU sideline made it clear that what started out as optimism and belief had now morphed into a real sense of having their opponents on the ropes.
Kildare’s Callum Bolton replied in kind with a clinical finish of his own, one of several big plays from the powerful midfielder, but outside of his influence, by now the midfield battle was carnage, with DCU lording a UCD kickout which lacked imagination and variation.
A steady stream of quick ball turned into good scores for Tom Prior, Darragh Swords and Lorcan O’Dell, ultimately yielding a run of five unanswered scores that put them out of sight and heightened the desperation in their opponents, desperation which led them to heave yet more low percentage shots in the general direction of the DCU goal.
One of those hit and hope efforts was punched to the net by Darragh McElearney, who got his fist to an Aaron Lynch shot to fire in a third goal, but with referee Seán Hurson due to blow his final whistle a minute later, it was never going to knock DCU off course and prevent their momentous win.
DCU: E McGuinness; B Masterson, L Glennon, A Gavin; E O’Connor-Flanagan (0-1), R Gallagher, C Caulfield (0-1); E Dunne (1-2), C Heffernan (0-1); N Dolan (0-1), C Dolan, G McEneaney (0-1); T Prior (0-3), R Donoghue, L Marren (0-2f).
SUBS: L O’Dell (0-1) for Dolan (34), D Swords (0-3, 0-1f) for Donoghue (36), J McGroddy for Dolan (50), J Tumulty for Marren (55).
Yellow Cards: Glennon (4)
UCD: K Roche; M Stone, D McElearney (1-0), T Clancy (0-1); C McMorrow, C Drumm, R O’Toole (1-0); C Bolton (1-2), P Duffy; M McNally, L Breathnach (0-1), C Egan; D Cregg (0-2f), B O’Carroll, A Lynch.
SUBS: S Callinan for McNally (h-t), P Honeyman for O’Carroll (44), D Moriarty for McMorrow (44), S Forker for Egan (48), L Costello for Duffy (57).
Wides: 7
Yellow Cards: Cregg (4), Drumm (38), Bolton (46).
Referee: S Hurson (Tyrone).