UUJ settle quickly and see off Carlow

A STYLISH display from UUJ saw them advance to the Sigerson Cup semi-finals with ease, after they demolished Carlow IT at Belfield yesterday.

Dominant throughout, Jordanstown settled quickly and though Carlow IT were enthusiastic early on, the favourites were sufficiently composed to deal with this as they cruised to a convincing win.

There was so much to admire in this Jordanstown performance, with Dessie Mone and Brendan Donaghy providing the defensive expertise, while the half-back line of Kevin Dyas, Donal Morgan, and Ciaran McGinley were near-flawless.

Jordanstown’s forward line also delivered effectively with Diarmuid McNulty, Jason McAnulla, Matthew Donnelly, and Conor McManus all excelling.

McNulty, Dyas, and Donnelly had all stroked over points before they pounced for an opportunistic goal as McManus finished calmly.

Carlow’s Craig Rogers goaled from a penalty to narrow the deficit to three, but Jordanstown’s ability to win possession at centre field ensured their attack was supplied with quality ball. McNulty, Peter Hughes, and man of the match McGinley hit three on the spin to leave them 1-6 to 1-0 ahead at the end of a purposeful opening quarter.

As the half lingered on Carlow, with Cork’s Chris O’Donovan effective and Rogers supplying glimpses of his talent, allowed Daithi Carroll to kick the frees with precision inside.

They still trailed 1-10 to 1-5 at the interval, however, and failed to score again until the 56th minute, By that stage Jordanstown had reeled off nine second period points without reply.

Donnelly (2), Hughes (2), Niall Holly, McManus, Colm Murney, McGinley, and Caolan O’Boyle registered points during this bout of supremacy.

Carlow eventually grabbed a 56th minute score as Ben Brosnan hit two points in a row. Jordanstown responded with McAnulla rattling the Carlow net to seal success.

Scorers for UUJ: C McManus (1-3, 2fs), J McAnulla (1-1), M Donnelly (0-3), P Hughes (0-3), C McGinley (0-3),D McNulty (0-2), K Dyas (0-1), N Holly (0-1), C O’Boyle (0-1), C Murney (0-1).

Scorers for Carlow IT: C Rogers (1-1, 1-0 penalty), B Brosnan (0-3, 2fs), D Carroll (0-2, 2fs), G Seaver (0-1), K Meaney (0-1).

UUJ: G Kelly (Tyrone); D Mone (Monaghan), B Donaghy (Armagh), C Galligan (Monaghan); K Dyas (Armagh), D Morgan (Monaghan), C McGinley (Tyrone); C Murney (Down), N Holly (Derry); P Hughes (Tyrone), C O'Boyle (Derry), D McNulty (Tyrone); J McAnulla (Tyrone), M Donnelly (Tyrone), C McManus (Monaghan).

Subs: E McGuckin (Derry) for McNulty (43 mins), G McCartan (Monaghan) for Galligan (45 mins), R Pickering (Tyrone) for Dyas (50 mins), K Anderson ( Down) for O'Boyle (55 mins), C Young (Derry) for Holly (56 mins).

CARLOW IT: R Keating (Carlow); D Buckley (Tipperary), J Kinahan (Kildare), C Phelan (Waterford); S Gannon (Carlow), G Hanrahan (Laois), C Boyle (Laois); K Meaney (Laois), C O'Donovan (Cork); D Foley (Carlow), B Brosnan (Wexford), G Seaver (Dublin); D Carroll (Laois), JJ Smith (Carlow), C Rogers (Laois).

Subs: F Smith (Meath) for Buckley (55 mins).

Referee: G McCormack (Dublin).