Athlone IT's Sigerson dreams dashed by UCC

The Sigerson Cup dreams of Athlone IT were ended in convincing fashion by a strong UCC outfit at Maynooth last Friday. Although AIT competed reasonably well in the early stages, they never led at any stage of the contest and once the Cork side found their rhythm, they always looked likely winners. UCC led by 1-7 to 0-4 at half-time and Athlone never got any closer than five points in the second half. Ned Burns' charges were left ruing their failure to take a couple of gilt-edged goal chances towards the end of the opening half. In the 26th minute, a Cathal Blake shot came back off the upright to David Egan, whose well-struck shot was a bit too close to Ken O'Halloran and the UCC keeper made the save. A couple of minutes later, UCC made Athlone pay dearly for that miss when they found the net at the other end, with corner-back Shane Enright finishing off a flowing move which began deep in defence. A minute later, O'Halloran produced a brilliant save to deny AIT wing-forward Paul Doherty. A goal then would have the ideal fillip for Athlone but it wasn't to be, and the second half proved entirely forgettable from an Athlone perspective. AIT's cause was not helped when Doherty was sent off on a straight red card in the 45th minute. Indeed, AIT's discipline was poor in the second half with midfielder Brian Connor very fortunate not to receive a second yellow card at one stage. But even before the dismissal of Doherty, the tide was inexorably in UCC's favour. To reach the semi-finals was a commendable achievement for Athlone IT and the Westmeath college was the only non-university to reach that stage. UCC's strong midfield pairing of Cork inter-county star Michael Shields and John Buckley was central to their victory. Buckley is a member of the Kerry senior panel and he looks a player of considerable potential. Both players scored a brace of excellent points from play and AIT rarely produced that sort of quality. Of UCC's 33-man panel listed on the programme, there was only one player not from Cork or Kerry and he didn't feature on the day. The vast majority of the squad was made up of Cork players and the team was managed by former Rebel County boss Billy Morgan. Barry O'Driscoll (Nemo Rangers), who wore No 33, caused the AIT defence plenty of problems, while Daithi Casey and Seamus Hayes were also useful forwards who contributed five points between them. On the other hand, AIT's forwards struggled to hit their best form on the day. Ray Galligan, who had been so impressive in the earlier rounds, was a subdued figure and he was eventually replaced - while John Reynolds, despite winning a good deal of ball, was unable to turn it into scores. All of AIT's three second-half points were scored by the nippy Frank Burke, who carried the fight to UCC until the bitter end. Another of AIT's leading performers on the day was Sean Higgins (St Aidan's), who had a solid game at corner-back. Buckley sets the tone Conditions at the NUI Maynooth North Campus pitch were very cold but dry as the game began. Within 25 seconds, a wonderful point by John Buckley gave UCC the lead. AIT equalised through a Ray Galligan free, awarded after a great catch by Paul Doherty. Buckley was already proving a threat and he drew a foul after playing a one-two with wing-back David Limrick, with Daithi Casey pointing the free. In the fifth minute, determined AIT centre-back David Reilly sent over a fine point, after getting on the end of a move involving Matt Mitchell and Paul Doherty. However, five points on the trot saw UCC open up a 0-7 to 0-2 lead by the 22nd minute. First, Barry O'Driscoll pointed a free, before Buckley and Shields both raised white flags in superb fashion. Seamus Hayes then flicked over from a Daithi Casey free, before Casey struck a sweet point off the outside of the boot. Industrious AIT centre-forward David Egan replied with a 23rd-minute point and then came that goal chance which was spurned by the same player. The only goal of the game came after UCC corner-forward David Kearney played a one-two with Sean Kiely and passed the ball across the goal to the unmarked Shane Enright, who had the straightforward task of finishing the ball to a virtually unguarded net. Heavy rain began to fall as half-time approached and, after Doherty was denied by the agility of O'Halloran, Ray Galligan converted a '45' to leave AIT six points adrift at the interval. Within two minutes of the restart, Frank Burke lifted AIT with a fine individual score but Seamus Hayes responded at the other end, before Barry O'Driscoll converted a free. Another good point by Frank Burke again left six points between the sides (1-9 to 0-6) in the 40th minute. However, the next four points were all scored by the men with the skull and crossbones emblem on their jerseys. Barry O'Driscoll (two, one free), Seamus Hayes and Michael Shields were the players on target, leaving UCC 10 points clear with about six minutes left. During this spell, Billy Morgan's side could have embellished the scoreline further, but O'Driscoll fired wide with the goal at his mercy. As the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion, both sides made several substitutions - with UCC opting to make a triple substitution. One of AIT's subs, Niall Judge, set up Frank Burke for his third point in the 56th minute, before UCC replacement David Goold and O'Driscoll (free) completed the scoring. AIT sub Paul Bannon was unlucky not to get on the end of a Frank Burke pass, as the midlanders attempted to grab a consolation goal in the closing stages. This victory saw UCC set up a final clash with DCU but the Cork side's hopes of claiming the Sigerson Cup for the 19th time were thwarted by the Glasnevin outfit. DCU, with Westmeath's Kieran Gavin and Clann na nGael's Donie Shine on their panel, won the final by 1-11 to 0-10. SCORERS - UCC: B O'Driscoll 0-5 (4f); S Enright 1-0; S Hayes 0-3; J Buckley, M Shields, D Casey 0-2 each; D Goold 0-1. Athlone IT: F Burke 0-3; R Galligan 0-2 (1f, 1 '45); D Reilly, D Egan 0-1 each. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK: Ken O'Halloran (Cork); Eoin Cotter (Cork), Eoin Hegarty (Cork), Shane Enright (Kerry); David Limrick (Cork), Adrian Greaney (Kerry), Philip Corrigan (Cork); Michael Shields (Cork, capt.), John Buckley (Kerry); Kevin O'Driscoll (Cork), Sean Kiely (Cork), Daithi Casey (Kerry); Barry O'Driscoll (Cork), Seamus Hayes (Cork), David Kearney (Cork). Subs: Mark Collins (Cork), David Goold (Cork) and Paul Honohan (Cork) for Kiely, Hayes and Casey; Brian Shanahan (Cork) for Corrigan; Donal "g O'Donovan (Cork) for Greaney. ATHLONE IT: Gary Connaughton (Westmeath, capt.); James Reynolds (Westmeath), Diarmuid Masterson (Longford), Sean Higgins (Roscommon); Matthew Mitchell (Offaly), David Reilly (Galway), Kevin Smyth (Longford); Ger Dennigan (Longford), Brian Connor (Offaly); Paul Doherty (Mayo), David Egan (Offaly), John Reynolds (Offaly); Ray Galligan (Cavan), Cathal Blake (Galway), Frank Burke (Galway). Subs: Niall Judge (Sligo) for Galligan; Paul Bannon (Westmeath) for John Reynolds; Fintan Reilly (Westmeath) for Higgins (injured); David Cash (Kildare) for Egan; David Reynolds (Westmeath) for Dennigan. REFEREE: Gary McCormack (Dublin).