Not too long after David Power took charge of UL, they faced UCC in a Division 1 League game last autumn.
UL won the match, went on to win the League outright, for the first time in their history, and used that as a springboard to eventual Sigerson Cup success on Wednesday evening at Croke Park. Again, it was a first ever title for UL.
“I remember that game against UCC in the League down at UCC around October and we beat them,” said Power. “We were down a lot of players that night but we showed a lot of character and from that night on I just sensed there was a bit of belief growing.
“Then winning the League was huge. It just gave UL confidence that they could win a competition.”
Still, few expected them to go on and win the championship. Even after beating holders DCU and knocking out both Maynooth and Queen’s after extra-time, they were still installed as underdogs for the final.
As it turned out, UCC were never ahead in a game that UL probably should have won by more. The teams were tied four times, including at half-time after Ciarán Santry’s goal for UCC right on the half hour, but UL never actually fell behind.
“I did feel going in at half-time that UCC’s goal could have damaged us because I thought it was a fluky enough goal,” said Power “I don’t think he (Ruairí Murphy) meant to pass across the goal (for Santry). And, like, you’re going in at half-time, a drawn game, and you’re kind of saying, we should have been three or four points up. But we started really well again in the second half and it was a very controlled performance.”
Mayo senior Cian McHale has been terrific for UL throughout their five-game campaign, scoring 1-8 against Queen’s last Friday evening and the Moy Davitts forward added another 0-5 here. But Power felt it was a victory for the collective.
“The one thing I’ve learned about colleges football – you have to have a panel,” said Power. “You can’t just rely on 15 players. Micheál Freaney won the game for us against Maynooth two weeks ago. Every game there has been a different lad who has stood up. I know Cian is getting a lot of the scores but overall it’s just a fantastic achievement from that group of lads.”
Power namechecked goalkeeper Tristan O’Callaghan too. The Clare stopper pulled off four point blank saves over the evening and was excellent on his kick outs.
“We only started working on that last Monday night,” said Power of their restart strategy. “It was our only chance really because we were going from game to game. But we had to work on something after Friday because Queen’s really did put us under pressure on the kick outs. That paid dividends tonight.”
As for Power himself, it was another sweet win. He had already etched his name in history as the man who guided his native Tipperary to All-Ireland minor success in 2011. Nine years later, he masterminded their Munster SFC win against all the odds.
“It has to rank up there very, very highly,” said Power of the win. “And then to win it in Croke Park makes it even more special. I hope all the finals are here over the next few years. It’s the place where you want to win All-Ireland finals. What Jarlath Burns said in his speech, that all the Sigerson Cup and Fitzgibbon Cup finals should be in Croke Park, makes a huge pile of sense because the competitions are super. The football from both teams was a joy to behold at times.”
