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College Tribune | September 30th 2008
Sport News
UCD blows Gaels off course
■ Jordan Daly
College Tribune
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The colours clashed at Parnell park last Tuesday night, but while it was Dublin university teams battling it out, it was a Wexford man, Ciaran Lyng who illustrated the gulf in class between UCD and Trinity, as the men from Belfield ran out 1-17 to 0-05 winners. “Ciaran coming back really boosted us, any squad in Dublin would have him, he is amazing going forward. I played last time we won it in 2006 and it would be unbelievable if we could do it again.” Shane Lennon was quick to commend his team mate for a fantastic performance, himself drenched in sweat after an exerting performace. Lyng was substituted in the 44th minute. Leagues ahead of his opposition, he was after wreaking havoc for the early period of the second half as he went forward scoring three cracking points. His return spurred UCD to a display of utter ruthlessness in Parnell Park last Tuesday. At the half way stage, the Belfield Blues were up by eleven points, and their place the quarter-final of the Dublin SFC ‘A’ was in the bag. Star forward and man of the match Shane Lennon was pleased with the win,“It’s always great to get a victory and we knew coming out tonight it was win or bust, we saw Brigids go out on goal difference the other night and we didn’t want that to happen to us. Hopefully we can build on this win for the rest of the season, we’ve still a few players coming back, and we will need a full strength squad for the knock out stages.” Their ease of victory was greatly thanks to full-forward, Louth’s Lennon, who sliced open the heart of the Trinity Gaels defence with a right foot you could play the fiddle with and he totaled seven points, four from spot kicks. Lennon was in control, using his speed to sweep up possession and knocking over anything he didn’t
UCD 1-17 Trinity Gaels 0-5 Parnell Park pass to the opportunists either side of him. His powerful shot in the fifteenth minute was blocked by goalie Craig Reilly but pounced on by Cathal O’Dwyer to give UCD their only goal. A humble Lennon after the game commented on his performance. “My own shooting was a bit off but it was good to kick a few over, we all linked up well in full-forward, Colin, Mark and myself and of course Paddy in the half forward line.” The University men kept the possession away from the Donaghmede danger-men Dean Kelly and hit the first six points in second without reply before Brendan O’Brien stemmed the tide with a 49th minute free. UCD however used crisp handpassing triangles all over the field and thirteen wide shows that they didn’t take all their chances. UCD Goalkeeper Stephen Gallagher said after, “It was a must win game for us, if we were bet all the critics would be on our backs, because we were always expected to win. It’s not quite as star-studded a team as the one that won it two years ago but names mean nothing as Tyrone proved at the weekend. Players don’t win championships, teams win championships. Our work ethic was 100% from the first to the last whistle. There were lads still pulling and dragging even when we were ten points up.” “All the big names are left now, Crokes, Vincents, whoever we play we are going to be the underdogs anyway, and that’s the best way to be going into games. If we can stay clear of the likes of Crokes and Ballyboden we can win it in the forwards but really anything can happen on the big day.” Ominous words ahead of UCD v Crokes on October fourth.