Niall Moyna steps down as DCU manager

Niall Moyna announced he was stepping down as DCU manager following the university’s maiden defeat in the Sigerson Cup final.

Moyna was at the helm for DCU’s breakthrough win in 2006 and also oversaw the final victories of 2010, 2012 and 2015.

“It’s my last Sigerson,” said Moyna after his team’s narrow defeat to their Dublin rivals.

“I’m 15 years at it and I just thought it needs a change. This is maybe the fifth or sixth team I’ve built. We won the Freshers League and Championship this year, so there’s a great group of players coming along. I think we have a good enough team to win next year. I can let someone else take them along.

“I could be selfish and stay in it. But that’s not the right thing to do. The right thing to do is let the next generation come through. I couldn’t have wished to be involved with a nicer group of kids.

There can only be one winner in finals, but the lessons they’ve learnt and all those transferable skills they’ve taken from their time in Sigerson they’ll have for the rest of their lives.

“That’s just as important as winning a final.”

Moyna has built the north Dublin university into one of the dominant forces at third-level over the past decade, revealing that the man who motivated him to get involved with the DCU footballers was the late Dave Billings.

“When I came to DCU first, Dave Billings was so passionate about UCD and Sigerson. He told me we were a little university over in the north side, and they’d won 32. I said to myself ‘By Jaysus, you’ll live to regret those words.’ I went home and said to myself that I was going to build a dynasty. I’m delighted for UCD and Dave. You couldn’t meet a nicer human being, a lovely man.”

Victorious UCD boss John Divilly also paid warm tribute to his close friend.

“The passing of Davey could hinder players in a way because lads can get too emotional. The lads kept everything in check and afterwards it all came out. It is great that Annette Billings was there to witness it as well. We are really happy.

“We never once mentioned him because, as I have said before, we talk about Davey on a daily basis. We don’t just talk about him at team meetings; it is always, ‘Davey would have said this or the craic here.’ He is in our thoughts every day. Whether we won or lost today, we will still talk about him tomorrow, and for decades to come in UCD. He is just one of those figures that we were lucky to have. We were lucky to have all crossed paths with him.”

Forced to finish with 14 men as the winners had used their full complement of subs when Conor McCarthy was black-carded entering second-half stoppage time, there were several other hurdles UCD had to negotiate en-route to victory.

“We lost Paul Mannion early, we lost Niall Kelly to a black card and Jack McCaffrey’s hamstring, he had to go at the end, but the boys never stopped.

“You saw the football we tried to play. We tried to keep it in the hand and move it quickly and we got some scores in the end.

“Every guy that came in today, it was for the good of UCD and they just wanted to get over the line and make sure that everyone went home with the cup. It was a team effort, as it has been all year.”

Divilly added: “I thought every decision went against us, to be perfectly honest. Sometimes you have days like that. We just had to try and keep our cool on the line.”