St. Mary's of Belfast are through to their first Sigerson Cup final since 1993 after a one-point victory over UCC. They won in spite of a couple of early sucker punches.
Both of UCC's goals came in rapid fire time in the 5th minute. Ian Maguire forced home a scrappy opener. Down goalkeeper Mark Reid made a bit of a hash of his kickout, lobbing it straight to an opposition player. The ball was passed to Cathal Bambury who slotted home a second goal.
In a low scoring game, Mary's recovered to lead 1-6 to 2-2 at half-time. Their tally of 1-1 in the 2nd half enabled them to clamber over the line.
2-7 to 2-6 was the final scoreline. Matthew Fitzpatrick and Ciaran Corrigan grabbed the crucial goals.
They will face reigning champions UCD in the final. They beat UL 1-10 to 0-11 in the other semi-final this afternoon. There is little time for either team to recover. The final goes ahead tomorrow.
It will be St. Mary's 4th appearance in the Sigerson Cup final. They won on their appearance in 1989, beating UCC handsomely in the final. They lost their next two finals in 1990 and 1993, falling to Queen's on both occasions.
