February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
UCD 0-16, ST. VINCENT’S 1-6
UCD won their sixth Dublin senior title without a single Dublin-born player in the side and St. Vincent’s grumbled their way through a game they never managed to get a foothold in.
UCD’s stars were predictable enough. Laois starlet Beano McDonald kicked four points, Monaghan’s Raymond Ronaghan chipped in with three, and the indestructible midfield pairing of Cormac McAnallen and Ciaran McManus completely dominated proceedings throughout. For all their domination, however, UCD squandered a ridiculous number of possessions all afternoon. Afterward, their coach, Dave Billings, said his side took no pleasure in being county champions, because they hadn’t beaten Na Fianna on the field. If it’s any consolation, his side didn’t exactly give much pleasure either. They go on to meet Wicklow champions Rathnew in Aughrim this Sunday.
ERRIGAL CIARAN 1-13
CROSSMAGLEN RANGERS 1-10
Crossmaglen were tired, Errigal were jaunty. Crossmaglen’s county stars weren’t interested, Peter Canavan just about won this Ulster club senior game on his own. Crossmaglen played a mystifying game that involved leaving no more then two men forward of the 45-meter line at any one time, Errigal’s forward ran here and there and flummoxed their markers. In the end, Cross could have pulled this one out of the fire, but the just hadn’t the will to. The fact that only about 10 percent of the crowd were from Armagh tells you about as much as you need to know about how long Crossmaglen’s road has been and how little sleep they’ll lose to be off it for a while.
Errigal will meet Ballinderry in the semifinal on Sunday.