The University of Limerick and University College Cork have booked their place in the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final, defeating Dublin City University DÉ and TU Dublin respectively in a doubleheader at Cullen Park this evening.
UL and DCU DÉ played in the first of the two games, with the Limerick school hoping to reach the final for the second successive year.
It was a close fought contest throughout, although there was a sense that UL were the better of the sides in the opening half as they led 1-7 to 0-4 at the interval on the back of a goal from Ciaran Downes.
DCU DÉ would mount a comeback in the second half, scoring the first four points after the game resumed to get right back into the contest. Unfortunately for them, that would be as close as they would come to levelling the scores.
UL slowly pulled away as the game went on, with a goal from Aaron Griffin and a cracking strike from Mayo's Eoghan McLaughlin putting the result beyond all doubt.
This was some strike from Mayo's Eoghan McLoughlin to help UL into the Sigerson Cup final 💪@ElectricIreland #FirstClassRivals pic.twitter.com/zPG0Pfy4Rf
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 8, 2023
In the end, UL would emerge victorious on a scoreline of 3-12 to 0-12.
In the second game, UCC took on TUD, a repeat of the 2013 final.
While both sides would exchange scores in the opening stages, UCC would soon take control of the game. They ran off a number of consecutive scores, with a goal from Dylan Geaney just before the half hour mark giving them a 1-7 to 0-4 lead at the interval.
That trend continued in the second half, with the Cork side largely managing to keep their opponents at arm's length throughout.
However, TUD would manage to get within a couple of points in the closing stages to set up a nervy finish.
UCC would manage to see the game out despite some late pressure for a winning goal from their opponents, coming out on top on a final scoreline of 1-12 to 0-13.
Having been defeated in last year's final, UL will be hoping to go one better in this year's competition. Remarkably, they have never won this competition.
That is quite the contrast to UCC, who will be going for a record-breaking 24th Sigerson Cup. Their last final victory came in 2019.
The two sides previously met in the first round of this year's competition, with UL winning on that occasion by three points.
This should be another cracking game, with throw-in at 7.30pm next Wednesday, February 15th at WIT Sports Campus.
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