Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup, Round 2A
St Mary's UC 1-13 DCU 1-14
IT was a case of defeat from the jaws of victory for St Mary's UC at Davitt Park yesterday as Red Og Murphy's last-minute penalty saw DCU through to the quarter-finals of the Sigerson Cup and 'The Ranch' sent into the qualifiers.
It looked as though the Falls Road college was about to hang on after a DCU fightback in the final quarter, but their two-point lead was wiped out by that swing of the boot by the Sligo man that came as a result of St Mary's being punished for coughing up possession at midfield with the 'sweeper 'keeper' tactic backfiring at the worst possible time.
Up until then, St Mary's had looked to be the team in control as they only trailed for less than 30 seconds early in the game, going onto enjoy a fine 20-minute spell that saw them lead by five at the break and they were still four to the good entering the final quarter.
However, the Dublin outfit rallied well and managed to force the decisive turnover that would settle this game and see them take the direct route into the last eight.
It was certainly a hammer blow for Gavin McGilly's charges who led for the vast majority of this game and were hugely economical in attack, kicking just one wide over the course of the game although they did have a couple of efforts drop short.
The Falls Road college was straight down to business with Ryan Coleman claiming the throw-in and racing through to score, but DCU owned the ball for a period thereafter, yet were finding it tough to break a packed home defence.
Bill Carroll did get them level and the opening 10 minutes were fairly even with the sides locked on 0-3 before St Mary's enjoyed a fine patch with Thomas O'Kane, Micheál McConville, Cormac Murphy and Cian McConville putting them into a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at the water break after a first quarter when the Ranch converted all of their chances as DCU hit five wides and had a goal from Bill Carroll ruled out for a double bounce.
DCU did enjoy a better spell when play resumed and narrowed the gap down to one with Shane Walsh, Shane Tierney and Seamus Byrne finding their range, although Walsh may have had a goal when St Mary's goalkeeper Charles Smyth palmed down to him, but he blazed over.
The Ranch continued to make the most of their chances and on 24 minutes, a fine move resulted in Cormac Murphy played in and he fired hight to the net with Conor McConville slotting over a point to give the Falls Road College a 1-8 to 0-6 advantage at the half.
DCU substitute Mark Barry was straight on the board just 10 second after the restart with Shane Walsh adding another soon after, but St Mary's hit back through Paddy Quigg and a Charlie Smyth 45.
Red Og Murphy then hot the score of the afternoon, somehow splitting the posts with a sideline on the left from the tightest of angles, but St Mary's were still able to remain in the box seat as they remained 1-12 to 0-11 ahead going into the final quarter.
The Dublin outfit began to eat into the gap as they pushed forward and Barry would blaze over when goal was on, but points from Pauric Hughes and Murphy would leave just one in it with three minutes to play with St Mary's down to 14 after Michéal McCarville was shown a black card on 55 minutes.
The Ranch were hanging on, but when Coleman kicked a beauty off his left with a couple of minutes left, it seemed they would see this game out.
Despite getting their hands on the ball, they were unable to retain possession, running into trouble with Smyth well away from his goal and when the turnover came, it was real trouble with DCU's Tierney skipping through only to be fouled and up-stepped Sligo's Murphy to find the net and send St Mary's into Round 2B, while the Dublin outfit go straight into the quarters.
ST MARY'S UC: Charlie Smyth (0-1, 45); D McCrossan, K Burke, J Diamond; T O'Kane (0-1), M McCallan, C McGettigan; Cormac Smyth, M McCarville (0-2); S Rock, R Coleman (0-3), Conor McConville (0-1); Cian McConville (0-1), P Quigg (0-3), C Murphy (1-1).
Subs: S Kelly for S Rock (44), S Donnelly for M McCallan (55)
DCU: D O'Hanlon; C Corcoran, S Ryan, S Byrne (0-1); K Lynch-Bissett, M Costello (0-1), L Towey; L Coleman, R Og Murphy (1-2, 1-0 pen, 0-1 sideline); B Carroll (0-2), S Walsh (0-2), P Hughes (0-1); S Tierney (0-3), J Bryant, R Finnerty.
Subs: M Barry (0-2) for R Finnerty (h/t), H Hagan for J Bryant (38), R Marley for L Towey (46)
REFEREE: Ciaran Branagan (Down)
