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Preview: Independent.ie HE SFL Division 1 (Ryan Cup) Final

Enda Smith

Enda Smith

Independent.ie Higher Education Senior Football League Division 1 (Ryan Cup) Final

Ulster University (Jordanstown) v DCU Dóchas Éireann, Inniskeen, 7.30pm (Wednesday)

By John Harrington

Ulster University shouldn’t lack for any motivation when they play DCU Dóchas Éireann in Wednesday evening’s Independent.ie Higher Education Senior Football League Division 1 (Ryan Cup) Final.

They’ve been beaten in the Sigerson Cup for the last two years running by the Dubliners so will surely view this match as an opportunity to make amends.

In recent years the Ryan Cup has been a good barometer of how the Sigerson Cup will also pan out.

So a victory in Inniskeen would be a morale booster for an ambitious Jordanstown team managed by Donegal legend Martin McHugh.

“Ah yeah, it's a good test,” says McHugh. “DCU have beaten us in the last two years in the Sigerson. So, listen, it's a good game to get. Definitely this is what you need at this time of the year.

“I think the last number of years there's been only one team that won the Ryan Cup that didn't then go on to also win the Sigerson Cup. That was actually Jordanstown. They won the Ryan Cup but then lost the Sigerson Cup Final by a point to UCC in 2013/14.

“Other than that the Ryan Cup winners have gone on to win the Sigerson in recent years. So from that point of view it's definitely a good marker.

“And, like, it is an All-Ireland Final and it's been a while since an Ulster team won an All-Ireland. We're looking forward to it definitely, without a doubt, and we'll do our best to win it.”

Martin McHugh

Martin McHugh

DCU have held the whip-hand over UUJ in recent times, but few of what’s now a very fresh-faced looking squad would have played in those 2016 and 2015 Sigerson Cup campaigns.

In fact, 10 of the team that were beaten by UCD in last year’s Sigerson Cup Final have since left the University, and another two, Steven O’Brien and Rory Connor, are currently out injured.

The panel has been repopulated by talented graduates of last year’s All-Ireland winning Freshers team like Shairoze Akram (Mayo), Ronan Jones and Daniel O’Neill (both Meath).

“It's a whole new team, a very young team,” says DCU’s Head of Gaelic Games, Michael Kennedy. “It's great for our lads to be playing competitive matches at this time of the year and not just to be going training. And it's great experience then to be able to come into a League Final, it's fantastic for them.

“For us to get into a League Final is just incredible really because we have so many players out injured and so many players involved with their clubs.”

It might be a new-look and relatively inexperienced DCU team, but it would be foolish to underestimate them as far as this match or the subsequent Sigerson Cup campaign is concerned.

Niall Moyna has a happy knack of quickly moulding well organised, highly motivated teams year on year, and this crop has the potential to be something special too.

“What they're trying to do is get that blend of youth and experience and see if they can cultivate them into a team,” says Kennedy. “With Niall Moyna there, there's no better person to do that.

“He's built numerous teams in DCU and he'll certainly be giving it his best and a huge amount of effort to make it work.

“The experienced players here have that great ability to bring the younger players on and they're always punching above their weight.

“That blend of experience and youth is great and there's a culture where the guys are walking on the shoulders of the players who have gone before them.

“That jersey is important to them and they always go out and give it their best.”

Niall Moyna

Niall Moyna

Jordanstown have retained many of their star players from last year’s panel including Ryan McHugh (Donegal), Paddy McBrearty (Donegal), Ethan Rafferty (Armagh), Kieran Hughes and Ryan McAnespie (both Monaghan).

They’ve also since added other talented footballers such as Eoin Donnelly (Fermanagh), Eoin McHugh (Donegal), and Michael McEvoy (Derry).

Their panel reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the best young players in Ulster, but Martin McHugh is adamant that looking strong on paper won’t be good enough to beat DCU on Wednesday night or challenge for the Sigerson Cup next year.

“University football isn't about having big names, it's about having team-spirit,” he says. “That's what we're working hard on this year.

“You do get that team-spirit from players who are capable of turning up, so you have important decisions to make there. Team spirit comes from effort, and we'll be going with the lads who will give us total commitment.”

Team-spirit also comes from winning. Whoever wins this match will have put their best foot forward in the direction of the Sigerson Cup.