Sigerson Cup final: McCarthy delivers 'man-of-the-match' display as UCD downs NUIG

February 17, 2018

UCD's players celebrate after their Sigerson Cup triumph over NUIG at Santry

Kieran Molloy's dash from Tullamore to Santry proved to be in vain as he was unable to prevent NUIG from slipping to a 2-9 to 1-13 Sigerson Cup final defeat to UCD.

After starring in Corofin's All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final victory over Moorefield, Molloy hitched a lift from Tullamore to Santry in the back of a Garda car and came on as a 38th minute substitute.

However, it is Molloy's club-mate Liam Silke, who didn't feature for UCD, who is celebrating on the double this evening.

John Divilly's charges captured their second title in three years and made up for the disappointment of last year's final loss to St Mary's in the process.

Captained by Damien Comer, underdogs NUIG showed no signs of stage fright early on as they raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead but a Conor McCarthy goal got the Belfield college up and running.

Monaghan star McCarthy would later walk away with the 'man-of-the-match' accolade and thanks largely to his efforts, the sides were tied at the break - UCD 1-5, NUIG 0-8.

The Galway college hit two second-half goals through Sean Kelly and Adam Gallagher but the Stephen Coen captained UCD kept the scoreboard ticking over with points and went on to secure a one-point success.

Con O'Callaghan had a quiet game by his high standards but the Dublin ace did kick a fine point in response to the concession of Gallagher's goal while Tipperary's Liam Casey sent over the final two points of the contest.

UCD - C Manton; P Healy, C O'Shea, C Mullally; L Fortune, J Feehan, S Coen; B O'Sullivan, J Barry; L Casey (0-3), C McCarthy (1-6, 0-3f), B Byrne; E Lowry (0-2), E O'Carroll (0-1), C O'Callaghan (0-1). Subs: B O'Seanachain for L Fortune, T Hayes for E O'Carroll.

NUIG - T O'Malley; K McDonnell, S Mulkerrin, S Brennan; G O'Kelly Lynch, R Greene, C Kelly; C D'Arcy, P Cooke; E Tierney (0-3, 1f), O Gallagher, A Gallagher (1-3, 0-3f); S Kelly (1-0), D Comer (0-3), B Donovan. Subs: R O'Toole for S Kelly, K Molloy for R Greene, E Finnerty for O Gallagher, R Forde for B Donovan.

Referee - J McQuillan.


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