O’Keeffe hoping success breeds success for UL

THESE are heady times for GAA in the University of Limerick. Last Saturday afternoon their hurlers ended a frustrating nine-year drought when they claimed the Fitzgibbon Cup.

Now their football counterparts are on the title trail as they face into the Sigerson Cup weekend which commences with the quarter-finals at the UCD campus in Belfield today.

UL will not lack confidence after dumping a Dublin IT team crammed with inter-county stars out of the competition.

“I think we probably caught DIT on the hop,” reasons UL coach and former Kerry All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Declan O’Keeffe. “There was a lot of talk beforehand about all the inter-county players they had but we’d a very experienced side. Niall Coyne our centre-back is a Galway senior. Then we’ve (Anthony) Maher and (David) Niblock at midfield, David Moran at full-forward and Tipperary seniors Phillip Austin and Brian Fox in our attack as well.”

The victory was all the more noteworthy considering the fractured nature of UL’s preparations with O’Keeffe only assuming the managerial reins before Christmas.

“Jerome Stack would have been over the team earlier in the year but he parted ways then. Patsy Morrissey the GAA officer got onto me and I’d have been involved over the last few years, so I’d have a link to it. It was difficult trying to get the players together but that situation is no different to any other college team. In fairness to intercounty managers, they have their own jobs to do. You have to be patient in your approach.”

UL’s players have plenty commitments to juggle with wing-back Seamus Hickey a prime example. Hickey’s defensive reputation is largely as a result of his Limerick senior hurling exploits and he was to the fore in last weekend’s thrilling Fitzgibbon Cup success with UL. But this season he has also thrown in his lot with the UL footballers.

“Seamus is 100% committed to everything he’s involved with. He wouldn’t have been involved in the Sigerson over the last few years but he was a very good Corn Ui Mhuirí player with St Flannan’s. He might not be a recognised footballer but his attitude is fantastic. A few weeks ago he played for Limerick senior hurlers on the Sunday, the UL hurlers in the Fitzgibbon quarter-final on the Tuesday and then played for us in the Sigerson against DIT on the Thursday. He looks after himself very well which meant his level of performance never dipped.”

The headlines prior to this season’s finals have been commanded by the prospect of elite players facing a punishing schedule of three games in three days. But O’Keeffe focus is only on today’s opponents NUI Maynooth.

“We’re facing a very different challenge now as there’s more known about us. Maynooth are a very capable team as they showed by beating a college like Queen’s University. They did something similar last year against Jordanstown. I know John Divilly from having played against him when he was with Galway and he’ll have them very well-drilled. We’ve accommodation booked for Dublin on Thursday night but that would be the same for every team in their planning. If we’re getting on that bus going back to Limerick on Friday morning, then the three day schedule is irrelevant. It’s foolish to look beyond Maynooth and we’re certainly not doing that.”