FOR Donncha Gilmore Sigerson football is less pressurised than the inter-county game – but he accepts some of his UCD colleagues may feel differently, at least this year.
The Belfield lads lost last season’s final to Ulster University and although Derry senior defender Gilmore has another year to go in his Law degree, he knows many colleagues feel they’re in the last chance saloon:
“Last year, getting to the final, because so many of them will be moving on, they’re probably thinking this is their last year to give it a real push, some of those older boys. There’s a lot of drive behind it and we’re all looking forward to getting out again.
“It’s nearly the exact same team – we’re only missing two or three starters, Davy Garland [of Monaghan] and Sean Coffey from Meath, but apart from them it’s nearly the same.”
Even so, UCD took some time to get their game going this season, with two low-scoring victories. First they won by 0-12 to 0-7 against old rivals UCC at the Mardyke, then they edged out city rivals DCU DE by 1-11 to 1-10 in round 2A.
That took them straight into the quarter-finals, where they absolutely destroyed the MTU Kerry team which had recorded seven-point wins over both UCC and MTU Cork (but had also been well-beaten by DCU).
UCD physically overpowered them, though, cruising to a 26-point triumph, 5-18 to 1-4, a performance where Gilmore felt his team really ‘clicked’:
“It just looked like we were moving a lot better together, linking up. You can also see the impact our subs have when they come on - we’ve quality players who’d probably start on any other university and are only not starting because they’ve only come back from injury, or something like that.”
Those subs included Roscommon forward Ben O’Carroll of St Brigid’s and Leitrim attacker Paul Honeyman, the latter netting two goals, as had Offaly’s Cormac Egan.
Also among the UCD forwards is Roscommon’s Daire Cregg, while Peter Duffy of All-Ireland Club SFC champs Cuala (Dublin) is at midfield.
Gilmore is operating alongside the latter, a position he has played before for Steelstown: “With the club I’d play anywhere from full-back to midfield, so I know what it’s like to play there.
“Any of the positions around the middle third you’re all doing the exact same thing so it doesn’t take a whole lot of getting used to.”
The only tricky aspect has been playing a more attacking style than he’s used to, he admits:
“This team is very easy to play on. There’s a lot of quality, and also the way they play is so different to how we play back home, with your county set-up. Everything is done so quickly, moved very fast.
“I think there’s a lot less pressure. You don’t feel the pressure, or that you’re under the spotlight as much as you do with the county.
“It’s also to do with playing with boys from different places. They’re all playing the way they grew up playing – and that’s different to the way I’d have grown up playing football.
“It took a bit of getting used to the amount of ball kicked in, and the turnovers of possession.”
Their opponents TU Dublin are also unbeaten, having eked out three-point wins over the University of Galway and St Mary’s, then won their quarter-final by four against University of Limerick, 2-15 to 2-11.
The underdogs have dangerous attackers in their team, notably Dublin’s 2023 Allstar Colm Basquel, plus Sean Jones of Monaghan and Meath forward Jordan Morris.
However, the overall quality and depth of the UCD panel should take John Divilly’s side back into the decider as they aim to end a seven-year wait for the trophy.
