Dundalk IT bow out of the Sigerson Cup

DKIT bowed out of the Sigerson Cup after losing out to Maynooth University on a seven point margin in the Maynooth University campus on Tuesday night last.

Tow quickfire goals in the first 10 minutes proved to be the Dundalk’s side undoing, with the Kildare college getting joy off DKIT’s kickout early doors, making the most of a strong first half wind advantage.

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By the 7^th minute of this clash, DKIT found themselves trailing by 2-3 to no score, as the Dundalk side understandably found difficulties kicking the ball out into a tricky breeze.

After Kildare pair Eoin Cully and James Harris landed the opening scores for Maynooth, Meath’s Conor Duke fired over their third point from play to leave his college three to the good inside three minutes.

Moments later, Maynooth struck for their first major, when Eoin Cully seized on a loose DKIT kickout before driving the ball home to double his side’s lead.

Moments later, it was a case of Déjà vu, with Meath player Eoghan Frayne intercepting a DKIT restart, to tee up his county colleague Conor Duke, who rattled the ball to the top corner, to leave a shellshocked DKIT with a mountain to climb early on.

To their credit, DKIT who were minus key players Dara McDonnell and Aaron O’Neill going into this game, did not throw in the towel, rattling off three points of their own to bring the gap back to six.

Stephen Mooney converted a free following a foul on Conor Clarke, before Maynooth graduate Kieran McArdle fired over on the swivel for their second point moments later.

DKIT keeper Kian Mulligan’s neat kickout was collected by Crossmaglen’s Pearse Blessing who combined with Stabannon’s Harry Butterly to set up talisman Stephen Mooney to leave six between the sides after 12 minutes.

Maynooth’s Aaron Browne and DKIT’s Oisin McGorman traded scores, before a two pointed free from the excellent Conor Duke left Maynooth 2-6 to 0-4 ahead after 18 minutes.

DKIT continued to battle on, and Stephen Mooney setup up Monaghan teammate Ryan Duffy for a sweetly struck point to close that gap to seven.

However, Maynooth made the most of that first half breeze advantage, with Meath player Conor Grey kicking over a fine two pointer to leave his side nine clear in the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Grey’s fellow midfielder and Dunshaughlin clubmate Charlie O’Connor stretched that lead even further from the resultant kickout, following good work by Daire Finn.

However, in the run up to half time, DKIT had somewhat of a purple patch, kicking four scores on the bounce to leave six between the sides at the break.

Back to back Stephen Mooney frees, including a delightful strike outside the scoring arc narrowed the gap to seven.

Another Mooney free left DKIT still in contention, trailing by 2-9 to 0-9 at the break, having faced that tricky first half wind.

That gap could have been even closer, with DKIT having threatened a major on a few occasions, including a fine move through the hands involving Stephen Mooney and Niall McKenna, which saw a last ditch block from Maynooth’s Dan Scahill denying the onrushing Bobby Butterly a possible goal, which would have been a wonderful tonic to take into the half time break for the Louth college.

Second Half:

On reflection, DKIT will rue their wastefulness in attack, in a game where they had more shots than Maynooth. However, DKIT amassed 0-13 from 29 shots, compared to Maynooth’s economical tally of 2-14 from 23 attempts.

Following some early wides, DKIT did land the opening two scores of the second half, thanks to the excellent Oisin McGorman who was full of running from the first minute to last, and Stephen Mooney (f) which left four between the sides, 5 minutes after the restart.

A turnover in their defence led to Maynooth moving the ball effectively, before Aaron Browne kicked over their opening score of the second half.

Browne then turned provider for Westmeath player Dan Scahill to kick over another score for Maynooth to restore that six point buffer.

A key turning point arrived at the end of that third quarter when Oisin McGorman took a Harry Butterly pass on the burst. Baring down on goal, the Latton man was hauled down by Maynooth’s Ryan Burke. However, referee Ian Howley only gave Burke a yellow card instead of a black card, and a free was awarded, despite protests from DKIT for a penalty.

Stephen Mooney converted the free, before repeating the feat minutes later to leave four between the sides with 10 minutes left.

In the end, Maynooth did see the game out, thanks to points from Conor Duke, Aaron Browne and sub Harry Plunkett, which left them with seven to spare at the finish.

In truth, that gap somewhat flattered Maynooth, as DKIT were in that game for large parts, and came agonisingly close to levelling the game up in stoppage time.

Eamon McEneaney’s side then came painfully close to a goal twice in stoppage time. First the hardworking Jason Duffy regain possession and found Stephen Mooney only for his rasping shot to cannon back off the post, with Maynooth keeper Cian Burke beaten all ends up.

A few minutes later, DKIT sub DD Reilly found himself baring down on goal, only to see his goal bound strike blocked by Maynooth’s Ryan Burke as DKIT lost out by seven in the end, but can hold their heads high, having gone toe to toe with the elite of college football this season, and preserved their Sigerson Cup status for next season, and with a lot of that squad eligible for next year’s campaign, the sky is the limit for a talented squad of players going forward.

DKIT: Kian Mulligan; Conor Clarke, Cormac McKeown, Bobby Butterly; Craig Callanan, Ryan Duffy (0-1), Adam McKeown; Jason Duffy, Pearse Blessing; John Joe Hughes, Oisin McGorman (0-2), Kieran McArdle (0-1); Harry Butterly, Stephen Mooney (0-9) (6f) (1 tpf), Niall McKenna.

Subs: Euan Crossan for Adam McKeown (HT), Tadgh McDonnell for Callanan (42), DD Reilly for McKenna (48), Liam O’Hanlon for Harry Butterly (51), Kian Duffy for Hughes (57).

Maynooth University: Cian Burke; Rob Fitzgerald, Ryan Burke, Brian O’Halloran; Dan Scahill (0-1), James Harris (0-1), Ciaran Daly; Charlie O’Connor (0-1), Conor Grey (0-2) (1 tp); Conor Duke (1-4) (1f) (1 tpf), Aaron Browne (0-3), Luke Killian; Eoghan Frayne, Daire Finn, Eoin Cully (1-1).

Subs: Harry Plunkett (0-1) for Finn (HT), Sean Emmanuel for Frayne (46), Luke Crowley for Scahill (55), Sean Greene for Daly (55).

Referee: Ian Howley (Co Dublin).