Galway students close in on first Sigerson Cup triumph since 2003

Dublin IT 0-15

NUI Galway footballers moved a big step closer to their first Sigerson Cup triumph since 2003 when holding off a committed Dublin IT challenge in a hard-fought semi-final in Mullingar on Wednesday night.

With eight of the starting line up from Galway and four more among the substitutes used, it was another significant lift for football in the county, together with the Tribesmen continuing to blaze a trail in Division One of the National League.

Conditions were demanding in the heavy rain at St Loman’s GAA Grounds in Mullingar, but cracking goals from Sean Kelly and substitute Eoin Finnerty were the key scores for a NUIG team which had to withstand a rally from their Dublin rivals, whose sole success in the competition came in 2013.

NUIG were never behind in the contest, with Owen Gallagher and Adam Gallagher finding the target in the opening ten minutes against an opposition which included Dublin player Brian Howard for the first time in this season’s Sigerson Cup.

Howard, actually, got Dublin IT off the mark, but with Enda Tierney, Adam Gallagher and Peter Cooke all raising white flags, NUIG were looking the better outfit and they got a huge boost two minutes from the interval when Kelly rifled home a terrific goal.

Trailing by 1-6 to 0-7 at the break, Dublin IT produced a determined effort on the resumption with the likes of Conor Loftus and Sean Hurley on target, leaving the teams tied at 1-9 to 0-12 heading into the final quarter.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.