THE ELECTRIC IRELAND Sigerson Cup campaign that began for UCC with defeat to UL over a month ago will climax with a rematch between the same two teams.
Yet exactly which outfit has pulled off the more impressive achievement by reaching the third level final at the SETU Waterford Arena is hard to say.
Take UCC for starters; from their five games in the competition they lost one of them and, quite remarkably, were level at full-time in two of the other matches.
At several points throughout the campaign they have looked a busted flush, a spent docket but, somehow, here they are, the survivors of two-penalty shoot-outs and that early defeat to UL.
Cork senior Cathail O’Mahony has been central to their revival, coming off the bench and striking 0-4 in their Round 3 win over Queens and then striking 1-3 against St Mary’s in the quarter-finals. Those were the two games that went to penalties and former All-Ireland U20 winner O’Mahony converted from the spot in each of those encounters.
O’Mahony’s six-point haul was vital later in the semi-final defeat of TU Dublin but, typically, that was a narrow win too.
UCC’s two Dylans, goalkeeper Dylan Foley and attacker Dylan Geaney, have played important roles along the way too as has Nemo Rangers man Mark Cronin, another former U20 star for Cork.
A year on from an agonising final defeat to NUI Galway, UL deserve huge credit too for navigating their way back to the decider.
They also had to overcome an early defeat in the competition, losing a high-scoring encounter against TU Dublin back at the Round 2A stage.
Since then they have taken down SETU Carlow, gained revenge on University of Galway (former NUI Galway) and beaten many people’s tournament favourites DCU in the last four. Across those three games they have hit the net eight times so UCC have been forewarned as to their goal threat.
UL’s return to the final is all the more impressive given the loss of reigning Footballer of the Year David Clifford and Cork’s Sean Powter, to name just two, from the group that contested last year’s final.
Leitrim’s Paul Keaney has been terrific in attack for them while Clare duo Ciaran Downes and Emmett McMahon each carry their own distinct scoring threat. Mayo’s Eoghan McLaughlin is best known for his defensive excellence but his goal against DCU in the semi-final, set up by Downes, was a thing of beauty.
To make up for last year’s final defeat, and to claim a first ever Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup title, UL will need all of those big guns firing again.
Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final
UCC v UL, SETU Waterford Arena
Wednesday, 15 February, KO 7.30pm
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