End of the road for the Ranch

The Ranch crashed out of the Sigerson Cup with another gut-wrecking loss on Wednesday afternoon.

It was déjà vu for the Belfast based students, as they conceded a last-minute goal to lose the game.

The same heart-breaking circumstances denied them an immediate place in the quarter finals. DCU netting a penalty with the last action to win by one.

This time it was Maynooth who struck the cruel blow in addition time to knock the 2017 Sigerson Cup winners out of the competition.

St Mary’s built up a strong five-point lead by the half time whistle. They enjoyed the advantage of the breeze during the opening 30 minutes.

But that all changed in the second period as the hosts raised just one white flag throughout the entire half.

Still, it looked like they’d done enough to earn the win, but there was no coming back from the injury time goal.

Cian McConville was once again to the fore for the men in maroon, nailing 0-4 and finishing top scorer.

The Crossmaglen forward opened the scoring for his side while Cormac Smyth from Mullaghbawn also split the posts.

Cormac Smyth chipped in with a point for The Ranch
Photo Credit: John Merry

McConville added a further three points to his tally to hand St Mary’s a 0-9 to 0-5 half time lead.

Little by little the visitors clawed their way back into the game and their first goal closed the gap to two.

Armagh Harps attacker Tom O’Kane claimed the only score of the half for Gavin McGilly’s men in the 47th minute.

It wasn’t enough to see the Ranch through as they lost by two in the end. Conor McConville, Sean Rock and Shane Donnelly all same game time.

Elsewhere, Ulster University qualified for the last eight of the Sigerson Cup with an eye-catching nine-point win over MTU Cork.

UU will take on champions DCU in the next round while Queen’s meet UL.