Sigerson Cup wrap-up: IT Tralee, UL and UCC advance

January 30, 2018

Kerry's David Clifford.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan.

David Clifford was to the fore again this afternoon as IT Tralee, University Limerick and UCC all stamped their Sigerson Cup quarter-final visas.

Clare's Conor Finucane and Limerick's James Naughton (from a penalty, after Keelan Sexton was fouled) netted in either half, helping UL claim a 2-13 to 1-11 victory over Cork Institute of Technology. Cavan's Niall McDermott clipped over five points for the winners, who had Limerick hurler and captain Gearoid Hegarty sent off in stoppage time.

Cork IT had led by five points in the early stages thanks to a scrambled Matthew Bradley goal, but they were unable to hang on for victory, despite Dan Ó Duinnín's six points.

Fresh from his Kerry senior debut at the weekend, David Clifford reeled off 1-4 as IT Tralee ended Queen's University's hopes on a 2-8 to 0-11 scoreline at The Dub. The winners led by 1-6 to 0-5 at the break after Clifford flicked the ball to the net shortly before the interval but Queen's were level by the 51st minute by virtue of a brilliant Emmett Bradley free.

Bolstered by six points from Donegal's Lorcan Connor, the Ulster side appeared to have the momentum going into the home straight but Clifford then placed Cork's Conor O'Driscoll for a match-winning 57th-minute goal.

Meanwhile, UCC also marched on as they arrested the hopes of Garda College, 1-12 to 2-7. Galway's Jonathan Ryan seemed to have fired the Templemore side into the last eight with a late point but up stepped Kerry's Killian Spillane to dispatch an injury-time penalty into the top right corner to give the Cork college a dramatic win.

Ryan's goal had the sides level at the break, 1-5 to 0-8, and a 46th-minute Tommy McDaniel (Westmeath) penalty had the Garda students on course for a famous victory. Their opponents were down to 14 men following the dismissal of Gary Murphy but Spillane (1-2) got them out of jail. Sean O'Shea also built on his impressive Kerry senior bow with a five-point haul.

University Limerick - B Redmond; S Courtney, L Boland, D Quinn; S Okunbar, P Lillis, C O'Dea; F O Cuanaigh, G Hegarty (0-1); J Naughton (1-2, 1-0pen, 0-2f), D Daly, E O'Connor; N McDermott (0-5, 4f), K Sexton (0-2), C Finucane (1-2). Subs: J Mason for L Boland, N Rabbitte for F O Cuanaigh, D Bohannon for D Daly, E Lawless for C Finucane, F McDonagh (0-1) for E O'Connor, J Lyons for C O'Dea.

Cork IT - A Casey; D Meaney, S Cahill, A McCarthy; K Fahey, P O'Sullivan, E Lavers; K O'Hanlon, C Kingston; K Browne (0-1), C O'Shea, K Murphy (0-2); M Bradley (1-1), D O Duinnin (0-6, 5f), S O'Sullivan (0-1). Subs: M Collins for C O'Shea, C Jordan for E Lavers, T Sheehy for M Bradley.

Referee - J Gilmartin.

**

IT Tralee - C Hurley; C Smith, E Marah, B Fitzgerald; J Morgan, G Crowley, S Cronin; P Clarke, G Bastible; S Cournane, C Lowney, D Spillane (0-1); D O'Keeffe (0-1), D Clifford (1-4, 0-4f), C O'Driscoll (1-2, 0-1f). Subs: C Kearney for J Morgan, C Lynch for D O'Keeffe, A McCarthy for D Spillane, G McKenna for P Clarke.

Queen's University - C Mullan Young; N Keenan, P Murdock, A Rushe; C Murphy, J McMahon, N Scullion; S Heffron, E Bradley (0-2, 1f); C O'Neill, P O'Hagan, D McKeever; A Fegan, L Connor (0-6, 3f), T Rushe (0-2). Subs: B Crealey (0-1) for A Fegan, E Fyfe for D McKeever, F Quinn for N Scullion, C Martin for C O'Neill, L Oliver for C Murphy (BC).

Referee - N McKenna.

**

UCC - M Martin; F Clifford, J Foley, M McSweeney; K Crowley (0-1), S Cronin, C Kiely; J Kennedy (0-1), A Barry; B O Beaglaoich, S O'Shea (0-5, 2f), K Flahive; G Murphy (0-1), C Dorgan, K Spillane (1-3, 1-0pen). Subs: S Sherlock (0-1) for C Dorgan, L O'Donovan for F Clifford.

Garda College - S Murphy; R O'Connor, S Gaul, K Histon; K Daly, T Featherstone, P Varley; C Russell, D Gallagher (0-1); E Cleary, P Kelleher (0-1), G Rogers; J Ryan (1-2), D Meehan (0-1), T McDaniel (1-2, 1-0pen). Subs: S Cunningham for E Cleary, A Gaughan for C Russell, E Duffy for P Kelleher, S Ryan for D Meehan, J Morris for T Featherstone, G Casey for T McDaniel.

Referee - J Hickey.


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