How hosts NUIG made their Sigerson Cup exit How hosts NUIG made their Sigerson Cup exit

By BILLY COSS UUJ -0-12 NUI Galway -1-6 NUI GALWAY were left with more than a few regrets in Dangan last Wednesday afternoon when a very winnable Sigerson Cup quarter-final against the University of Ulster, Jordanstown slipped from their grasp and ended hopes of winning third level Gaelic football's most coveted prize on home soil. Reigning champions UCC, recent O'Byrne Cup winners DCU, NUI Maynooth and Jordanstown will all roll into town for the competition's latter stages next weekend but hosts NUIG will be on the outside looking in and left to wonder what might have been after this gut-wrenching defeat. Boosted by Jason Doherty's superbly executed early goal, NUIG had rallied to take a slender lead, 1-6 to 0-8, mid-way through the second half of a typically intense and competitive Sigerson tie. They held all the momentum and looked set to kick on but a series of chances to put some daylight between the teams and pose serious questions of the visitors were spurned and Jordanstown came up with the match-winning scores, reeling off three quickfire points when everything was on the line in added time. [private] Both sides lived dangerously before eventually scraping through tricky opening round assignments they were overwhelming favourites in. The fallout from NUIG's victory over St. Mary's ended with the GAA's Higher Education Council handing down 12-week suspensions to two members of the Ulster team's players, Sean O'Neill and Gavin Teague. John Maughan's side needed to find major improvement from that match and while they did so, wayward finishing would prove costly this time around. Jordanstown were without their two most high-profile forwards, St. Gall's CJ McGourty (injury) and most notably Crossmaglen Rangers' Jamie Clarke (club commitments), but could still call on plenty of up-and-coming inter-county talent. With Donegal's Leo McLoone, Monaghan's Kieran Hughes and Tyrone's Mattie Donnelly leading the way, they were the better side in the opening half but their free-taking woes along with Doherty's ninth minute goal for NUIG meant the sides went in level at the break, 1-3 to 0-6. With the wind at their backs for the second half, the odds favoured NUIG yet Jordanstown started the brighter to go two ahead. Then NUIG went up a few levels. Their defence tightened up with team captain Ciaran McDonald outstanding and they played some superb football to edge in front after unanswered scores from Shane Moran, Jason Doherty and sub Kevin Conlon. Their period of dominance continued but some crucial chances went unconverted. None more so than when Conlon broke inside the Jordanstown defensive cover only to flash his shot agonisingly wide. Had a goal materialised, it would have been difficult to see any way back for the Belfast college and three further wides allowed them to remain in touch during that spell. The move of Kieran Hughes, who looks a real find for Monaghan, to midfield played a major role in swinging the result in Jordanstown's favour late on. Diarmuid McNulty levelled it up for them and as further chances came and went at both ends, including two Jason Doherty attempts for NUIG, extra-time looked on the cards. That was until Mattie Donnelly put last year's beaten finalists in front entering injury time and when they captalised on a quick NUIG kick out that went horribly wrong seconds later, Jordanstown were awarded a penalty that the Tyrone attacker wisely pointed to bring his personal tally to five points and secure his side's passage to the semi-finals. Despite NUIG's exit, there will be some Galway involvement in the competition's latter stages with three Micheál Breathnachs players â€â€ Fiontán Ó Curraoin, Seán Denvir and Peadar Óg Ó Gríofa  â€â€ likely to see action. Ó Curraoin has been a fixture in DCU's midfield this year and despite the absence of Donegal's Michael Murphy and Sligo's David Kelly through injury, the competition favourites still had far too much class, winning 1-15 to 0-7, in last week's quarter-final against a Paul Clancy-managed DIT side. John Divilly's NUI Maynooth, with Denvir and Ó Gríofa on board, booked their place in the last four after backing up an impressive opening round win over Queens with the 2-8 to 1-8 defeat of Colin Forde's UCD. Adrian Faherty and Danny Cummins were key members of an IT Sligo team that had reigning champions UCC in all sorts of trouble but could not turn their superiority into scores and Billy Morgan's team eventually prevailed, 2-7 to 0-11. Dangan will play host to an attractive Sigerson Cup semi-finals' double-header on Friday afternoon when the meeting of UCC and Maynooth at 1.30 is followed by DCU's clash with Jordanstown at 3.30. The final, which will be televised live by TG4, is pencilled in for Pearse Stadium at 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. In addition to the Irish Daily Mail-sponsored Sigerson Cup, the winners of the lower-tier competitions, the Trench Cup and Corn na MacLeinn, will also be decided over the course of the two days. UUJ: S. McCormack (Kildare); G. McCartan (Down), A. McClean (Antrim), R. Pickering (Tyrone); R. McNabb (Tyrone), L. McLoone (Donegal, captain, 0-1), C. McGinley (Tyrone); E. Wade (Donegal), N. McAdam (Monaghan); P. Devlin (Down, 0-1 free), P. Hughes (Tyrone), A. McArdle (Down, 0-1); D. McNulty (Tyrone, 0-3), K. Hughes (Monaghan, 0-1), M. Donnelly (Tyrone, 0-5, one penalty). Subs: C. Clarke (Down) for McArdle, 43 mins; C. Sheridan (Leitrim) for Devlin, 49 mins; S. McGuigan (Tyrone) for Hughes, 57 mins. NUI Galway: D. O'Sullivan (Limerick); L. Healy (Clare, 0-1), C. McDonald (Tipperary, captain), G. Sweeney (Galway); R. Kiely (Tipperary), J. Maloney (Offaly), R. Rochford (Mayo); S. Guing (Offaly), S. Moran (Leitrim, 0-1); S. Gilmartin (Sligo), F. Deasmhunaigh (Cork, 0-1), K. Conroy (Mayo); N. Douglas (Mayo, 0-1 free), J. Doherty (Mayo, 1-1), I. Galvin (Kerry). Subs: K. Conlon (Leitrim, 0-1) for Conroy, 26 mins; G. Higgins (Galway) for Galvin, 39 mins; D. Newcombe (Mayo) for Healy, 53 mins; C. Freeman (Mayo) for Deasmhunaigh, 49 mins. Referee: Michael Rock (Clare). Herald Sport Man of the Match: Shared by Ciarán McDonald (NUIG) & Mattie Donnelly (UUJ). [/private]