Éire Óg’s Fintan O’Shea helps TU Dublin see off UCD to reach Sigerson Cup semi-final

Éire Óg’s Fintan O’Shea was the only Wicklow man smiling at the end of the Sigerson Cup quarter-final battle between TU Dublin and UCD that went to extra-time on Wednesday night in Grangegorman.

Facing O’Shea in the UCD team were Garden County footballers Patrick O’Keane of St Patrick’s, Malachy Stone of Barndarrig and Tinahely’s Eoin D’Arcy and it was a cracking game that went right down to the wire.

In the end it was a late point from Dublin’s Luke Swan that won it for TU Dublin, but UCD will look back at the sending off of corner-forward Daire Cregg from Roscommon as being a massive moment in this feisty affair.

The Éire Óg man was named at centre-back for his side with O’Keane wearing the number six on the UCD team along with Barndarrig’s Stone at corner-back and Tinahely’s D’Arcy who was sprung from the bench after 44 minutes for Mayo’s Pearse Ruttledge.

TU Dublin enjoyed a 0-6 to 0-3 advantage at the break, but the UCD students battled superbly to make it 0-11 apiece at full-time.

A point from Dublin’s Mark Lavan threatened to send this tie to penalties but a spilled ball at the back for UCD saw Luke Swan become the hero and Fintan O’Shea and his TU Dublin side march on to the Sigerson Cup semi-final where they will take on UCC at Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow on Wednesday evening, February 8.

Lining out in the other Sigerson Cup semi-final will be Blessington GAA Club’s Kevin Quinn who scored a fine point for DCU in their comfortable 2-12 to 0-9 victory over MTU Cork in the last-eight clash in DCU Sportsgrounds on Tuesday evening.

Quinn, recently announced as the Garden County All Star County Senior Footballer award winner, came off the DCU bench after 35 minutes in place of Meath’s Matthew Costello.

The Sigerson semi-finals are part of a double header at Netwatch Cullen Park, with Quinn’s DCU taking on UL Wolves at 6.15pm and Fintan O’Shea’s TU Dublin doing battle with UCC at 8pm.