St Mary’s advanced to the semi-finals of the 2019 Sigerson Cup after a 0-15 to 0-13 victory over Maynooth University at Dundalk Institute of Technology on Wednesday afternoon.
Maynooth held a 0-8 to 0-7 lead at the interval but St Mary’s fought back superbly, with Slaughtneil’s Shane McGuigan scoring 0-5 over the course of the game.
Rising Monaghan star and Maynooth University footballer Stephen O’Hanlon levelled the game with a 48th-minute score, but St Mary’s pushed on in the last 10 minutes to book their place in the semi-finals.
St Mary’s famously lifted the trophy in 2017, after defeating UCD in the decider.
NUIG defeated Ulster University 1-8 to 1-7 at Abbotstown to secure their place in the last four.
UU would have been odds-on pre-match favourites, but NUIG clearly hadn’t read the script and Kieran Molloy’s first-half goal gave the Galway college a four-point lead in the early stages of the match.
UU recovered from the blow however, as a 27th-minute goal from Brian Kennedy, followed up with a score from Lee Brennan levelled procedures, although NUIG pointed on the stroke of half-time to give themselves a 1-4 to 1-3 interval advantage.
The Ulster college were given a great opportunity to level procedures with one of the last kicks of the game, but Frank Burns’s free sailed harmlessly wide as NUIG held on for a one-point win.
UCD claimed a 10-point victory over city rivals DCU, with the southsiders prevailing on a scoreline of 2-16 to 1-9.
UCD have some fantastic players available and will be clear favourites now, especially as UU have been eliminated.
UCC had a facile 4-21 to 0-5 win over IT Carlow in Wednesday's other encounter.
Sigerson Cup quarter-final results
St. Mary’s 0-15 Maynooth University 0-13
NUIG 1-8 UU 1-7
UCC 4-21 IT Carlow 0-5
UCD 2-16 DCU 1-9
