Sigerson Cup: five key men who could fly under-the-radar
Sigerson Cup players to watch.
Ruairi and Darragh Canavan will spearhead Ulster University’s charge, but another Tyrone man can play a crucial role as well. Conor Cush was a member of that gifted U20 crop and joined Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan’s squad last year while never making his championship debut. He is the son of two-time Ulster champion winner Adrian.
Cush started at corner-forward in the Senior Football League Division 1 Final defeat against Galway. His performance in this competition last year was outstanding as he scored two goals in a Round 3 loss versus UCD.
At the start of last season as several key men were still filtering back in, Padraic Joyce elected to start U20 Daniel O’Flaherty in a baptism of fire against rivals Mayo away for the league opener. The Salthill-Knocknacarra defender excelled. He has become a central figure for his club in recent seasons. Maurice Sheridan’s side have several star forwards like Tommy Conroy, Ryan O’Donoghue and Tomo Culhane but Sean Kelly’s limited involvement last year suggests he will need a defensive rock at the other end. O’Flaherty can be it. A fine centre-back.
The Newmarket forward has demonstrated his goal-getting ability with club and county, netting for the Cork U20s in their 2023 Munster opener. He will benefit from playing alongside a stacked forward line with several players who helped UCC to their 24th Sigerson title still available. That includes Sean O’Connor, Ruari Murphy and Sean Quilter.
O’Connor famously bagged 1-7 in the 2021 Munster minor final, 1-5 of that from play.
Regular watchers of college competitions will already be familiar with Flaherty. He is a dual-star and Fitzgibbon Cup winner. What makes Flaherty’s 2024 Sigerson campaign intriguing is his recent return to the Galway fold. The Claregalway man was Galway’s starting goalkeeper throughout the 2022 league until a hip injury in the league final against Roscommon. He was not part of the squad for 2023.
What’s more, Flaherty plays outfield for his club. This is one of the few realms where he has operated between the posts recently. His form will certainly be worth monitoring.
Plenty caught the eye in Kingspan Breffni last week as Mickey Harte’s Derry reign kicked off with a two-point triumph over Cavan. Helping them to it was a gorgeous 40-metre point by Donncha Gilmore. The versatile Steelstown Brian Óg member helped his county to victory in the delayed 2020 Ulster final and they went on to claim an All-Ireland title.
UCD have a competitive attacking six that could include Daire Cregg, Ben O’Carroll (depending on St. Brigid’s commitments), Cormac Egan and David Garland. They can therefore deploy Gilmore to win the battle in the middle third.
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