Preview: Sigerson Cup 2015 Finals Weekend
Preview: Sigerson Cup 2015 Finals Weekend
By Arthur Sullivan
The most prestigious third level football competition reaches its conclusion on Friday and Saturday at The Mardyke in Cork city, where UCC will look to defend the title they won last season on home soil.
The two semi-finals take place on Friday afternoon at 2pm and 4pm respectively, and the 2015 Sigerson Cup Final will take place on Saturday at 3pm and will be televised live on TG4.
Sigerson Cup Semi-Final Previews
Friday, February 20
UCD v DCU, The Mardyke, 2pm
The first semi-final on Friday afternoon pits Dublin heavyweights UCD and DCU together.
UCD, managed by former Galway defender John Divilly, are back in finals weekend for the second year running, having been beaten in last year's semi-final by eventual runners-up UUJ. It's 19 years this year since the Belfield side last won the competition - a gap that can be considered too long given they are top of the roll of honour with 32 titles.
Under the long-term tutelage of Niall Moyna, DCU have been one of the powerhouses of Sigerson Cup football in recent years and have been a finals weekend regular. Champions in 2006, 2010 and 2012, they didn't actually make it to the last four in 2014, but they have made up for that this year with a solid run to the semi-finals.
UCD defeated Athlone IT ( 0-14 to 1-7 ) and GMIT ( 1-19 to 1-9 ) to get this far, and showed signs in the quarter-final win over GMIT that they are really beginning to hit their stride in this year's competition. A large number of last year's panel are still available to Divilly - Eoghan Keogh, Ryan Wylie, Davey Byrne, Pádraic Harnan, Bryan Fenton, Ciarán Lenihan, Jack McCaffrey, John Heslin and Ryan Basquel to name most of them - and that finals weekend experience could prove significant at the Mardyke.
Unsurprisingly, Dublin senior star McCaffrey is the main man - and captain - for UCD. Although best known as a wing-back at inter-county level, Divilly has been playing the Clontarf youngster to good effect at centre-half-forward, and he will likely continue in that role against DCU. Moyna will have to come up with a specific plan to counter the unique threat that McCaffrey brings.
McCaffrey is the pivot of a potent half-forward line that includes Ryan Basquel (Dublin) and Niall Kelly (Kildare), while Westmeath player and renowned free-taker John Heslin is UCD's main scoregetter, as evidenced by his tallies of 0-8 against Athlone IT and 0-6 against GMIT. It's not just going forward that UCD are strong, either. Ryan Wylie (Monaghan) and Davey Byrne (Dublin) are in the full-back line while Meath's Pádraic Harnan and Dublin's Conor Mulally are important presences in the half-back line.
DCU manager Niall Moyna with Seán Boylan, selector
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While DCU can never really be considered dark horses at this level, they weren't one of the fancied teams at the outset of the competition. Yet Moyna's side have quietly and efficiently gone about their business, impressively knocking out a star-studded UUJ side in Round 1 ( 3-10 to 0-10 ) before a gutsy quarter-final win last week over St Mary's ( 1-11 to 0-11 ).
While this year's selection might not have the same star appeal as previous DCU sides (which included the likes of Paul Flynn and Michael Murphy), there is no doubting the quality at Moyna's disposal. Promising Dublin star Conor McHugh is a hugely gifted forward, and he is joined up front by Roscommon brothers Enda and Donal Smith as well as Wicklow's Conor McGraynor.
Elsewhere, young Dublin defender Jack Smith showed his credentials in the win over UUJ with an outstanding marking job on Cillian O'Connor, and he is joined in a strong defence by three players who carry big reputations from the underage ranks - Davy Byrne (Dublin), Conor Daly (Roscommon) and Conor Moynagh (Cavan). Experienced Laois defender Colm Begley is also part of the DCU side, as is towering Galway midfielder Tom Flynn.
Having both battled through to finals weekend, neither of these sides will want to leave Leeside without the famous trophy. Their Dublin rivalry adds a particularly exciting flavour to this tie, as Conor McHugh explained earlier this week.
"When we play UCD I'll be playing against lads I play with - Jack McCaffrey, Davy Byrne and Conor Mulally - lads like that. So I suppose there is a bit of a rivalry. Again, you have lads from different counties playing too. But there always is going to be a bit of a rivalry."
UCC v IT Carlow, The Mardyke, 4pm
As reigning champions and finals weekend hosts, it was fairly incumbent on Billy Morgan's UCC side to make it to the semi-finals. That they have done so with relative ease should come as little surprise to followers of the competition.
With 21 titles to their name, UCC are one of the bluebloods of the Sigerson Cup, and with Morgan in charge - a passionate devotee of the competition - they were always likely to be a major contender again in 2015. They won the title last year, their second title in four years, and Morgan still has a large crop of those players available to him.
David Culhane (Kerry), Fearghal McNamara (Kerry), Tomás Clancy (Cork), Conor Dorman (Cork), Shaun Keane (Kerry), Ian Maguire (Cork), Luke Connolly (Cork), Brian O'Driscoll (Cork), Conor Cox (Kerry), Seán Kiely (Cork), Paul Geaney (Kerry) all played on the side that defeated UUJ in the final in Belfast last year, and that level of experience is a huge bonus ahead of their semi-final against an unfancied IT Carlow side.
UCC bared their teeth from the off this year, dismantling city rivals CIT on a scoreline of 3-15 to 1-6 in Round 1. Classy Kerry youth Conor Cox struck 0-9 in that win, 0-5 from play, while Cork stars Conor Dorman and Tomás Clancy also stood out in that very convincing victory. UCC were given a tougher test of it in the quarter-final against Martin McHugh's IT Sligo, but prevailed in the end 0-13 to 0-8 , with Cox hitting 0-5 and Cork youngster David Harrinton knocking over 0-3 from play.
Paul Geaney celebrates UCC's 2014 final victory
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Morgan was without key trio McNamara, Maguire and Geaney for the IT Sligo game - McNamara was on club duty with Austin Stacks while Maguire and Geaney were both carrying knocks - but all three are available again for the weekend. The return of Geaney is a particular boost. The Dingle forward has carried his outstanding form of 2014 into this season, as evidenced by his recent tally of 1-5 from play in Kerry's Allianz League win over Derry, and he will form a potentially deadly front pair with Cox.
Harrington and Éanna Ó Conchuir are other dangerous UCC forwards and the sheer level of quality available to Morgan is notable. From his native Cork, he has some of the finest young talent in the county on his side. Dorman, O'Driscoll and Clancy form a remarkable half-back line, while Seán Kiely and Luke Connolly are formidable presences in the middle third.
It's hard to see how IT Carlow can compete with such a force, especially when they have to face them on UCC turf, but their achievement in reaching finals weekend in itself is a big one and deserves to be commended.
Noel Garvan's side battled through to the last four after narrow wins over IT Tralee ( 0-10 to 0-7 ) and UL ( 0-11 to 0-10 ) and the most noteworthy thing about both of those games was the discipline and organisation of the IT Carlow defending. A total concession figure of 0-17 in two games at this level requires an exceptional level of defending. Following that pattern is probably their only hope against UCC, as they are hardly going to outscore the champions in an open game of football.
Carlow midfielder Brendan Murphy is studying at the college this year and took part in their O'Byrne Cup campaign. However, he missed both their wins in the Sigerson Cup due to injury, and he may not be available for their match on Friday, which would be a huge blow. Barry McHugh (Galway) and Liam Boland (Tipperary) have been their main scorers - they have accounted for 0-18 of their 0-21 tally - and if the Leinster outfit are to have any chance of progressing from a low-scoring game, they will need this pair to be on top form.
However, the reality is that an IT Carlow victory over UCC would represent one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition. UCC are the reigning champions, they are at home, they have a formidable manager and a formidable panel of players, and this weekend they are fully expecting to become the first side to retain the Sigerson Cup since IT Sligo did it in 2005.
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