DCU show superiority in TUS Midlands stroll

INSIDE MAN: DCU's Conor Corbett. Pic: Evan Logan, Inpho

DCU 0-22 TUS MIDLANDS 0-8 

On an evening when Ulster University made a serious statement of intent and 24 hours after league winners University of Galway came through a tense showdown with St. Mary’s, DCU added their name to the list of potential Sigerson Cup winners with a devastating attacking display that crushed TUS Midlands in Athlone.

Disjointed performances against Queens and SETU Carlow suggested that DCU weren’t anywhere close to the level needed to compete with the leading colleges, but 22 points, 19 from play, showed that this star-studded group are right back to where they need to be.

Shane O’Donnell and Ryan Donohoe were the key men up front in the early exchanges, contributing five points between them in the opening quarter, with DCU 0-6 to 0-1 in front at that stage of the game.

Defensively, the north Dublin college were in complete control, as TUS Midlands enjoyed plenty of possession but simply couldn’t find a way to generate good scoring chances. 

A series of missed frees further demoralised the midlanders, and by half time Longford’s Joseph Hagan had the first two of his four points on the night, and DCU were 0-12 to 0-1 to the good.

Two local players, Declan Kenny and Kieran Colclough, came off the bench and made a decent impact for TUS Midlands after half time, while Matthew Whittaker and Brandon Kelly each kicked points and got involved in some good attacking moves that generated scores from frees.

However, DCU continued to kick some fine scores in the second half, ending the game with ten different scorers from play, while only some excellent work from Jake Shiels in the midlanders’ goal prevented DCU from adding a couple of goals to their tally as well.

SCORERS FOR DCU: S O’Donnell 0-4, J Hagan 0-4, R Donohoe (0-4, 0-1 45), P Hughes 0-2, M Costello 0-2 (0-1f), S Walsh 0-2 (0-1f), C Corbett 0-1, R Keane 0-1, W Shine 0-1, D McKeown 0-1.

SCORERS FOR TUS MIDLANDS: M Gibbons 0-4f, L Marren 0-1f, M Whittaker 0-1, B Kelly 0-1, D Kenny 0-1.

DCU: C McGuinness (Longford); J Grant (Donegal), S Fitzgerald (Galway), B Masterson (Longford); R Keane (Mayo), P Hughes (Wexford), D Robertson (Dublin); C Caulfield (Meath), R Donohoe (Cavan); S Jones (Monaghan), S Walsh (Meath), J Hagan (Longford); S O’Donnell (Donegal), M Costello (Meath), C Corbett (Cork).

Subs: C Hughes (Wexford) for Corbett (20), L Deignan (Sligo) for Walsh (38), D McKeown (Louth) for Donohoe (46), W Shine (Kerry) for O’Donnell (49).

TUS MIDLANDS: J Shiels (Sligo); D Farrell (Roscommon), D Finlass (Longford), D Dempsey (Offaly); D McVann (Meath), C Delaney (Offaly), A Hughes (Mayo); S Farrell (Kildare), J McMahon (Monaghan); B Kelly (Westmeath), J Torpey (Westmeath), M Whitaker (Westmeath); J Dowd (Galway), M Gibbons (Mayo), L Marren (Sligo).

Subs: K Colclough (Westmeath) for McMahon (h-t), D Kenny (Roscommon) for Dowd (h-t), O Flynn (Sligo) for Marren (46), C Cassidy (Longford) for Whittaker (53). 

Referee: James Molloy (Galway).