St Mary’s suffered a heart breaking defeat yesterday afternoon to DCU in round two of their Sigerson Cup campaign.
They faced the reigning champions DCU and pushed the Dublin university all the way to the end.
A late penalty, netted by Sligo man Red Og Murphy, denied Gavin McGilly’s men a famous upset.
The goals sends DCU through to the quarter finals, while St Mary’s must win their next game to get through to the last eight.
Armagh contribution
Three of the five Armagh players that started the game got their names on the score sheet. Shane Donnelly of Collegeland also came in from the bench.
St Mary’s made a bright start, with Tom O’Kane’s point in the 11th minute putting his side 0-4 ot 0-3 ahead.
It kickstarted a purple patch for the men in maroon, who struck four unanswered points to open up some daylight.
Cian McConville, top scorer the last day out, chipped in with his only score of the game while corner forward Cormac Murphy rattled the net.
Clann Eireann’s Conor McConville knocked over the final score of the half. St Mary’s headed into the half time break holding a 1-8 to 0-6 advantage.
As expected, the champions came roaring back. DCU, managed by former Dublin defender Paddy Christie, narrowed the gap to three by the 45th minute.
The St Mary’s lead continued to dwindle, although the 2017 winners were doing enough to keep their noses ahead.
Ryan Coleman, who finished with 0-3, whipped over an added time score that looked to have secured victory.
Heart breaking finish
Then disaster struck. DCU attacker Shane Tierney raced through on goal but was upended and the referee pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Murphy, who drilled the ball low and hard to the corner of the net and incredibly gave his side the lead for the first time since the 8th minute.
St Mary’s now face Maynooth next Wednesday in round three. UU and QUB are also in action next week. Queen’s face IT Carlow on Tuesday while Ulster take on MTU Cork on Wednesday.
