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McGrath Cup Senior Football Quarter Final – UL 5-18 UCC 4-16
UL defeated UCC by 5-18 to 4-16 in the McGrath Cup Football Quarter-Final on Sunday January 5th at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.
O’Donoghue shows All Star class to inspire UL in thriller
Ul 5-18 UCC 4-16
Report from the Irish Independent newspaper
Only about 100 watched this extraordinary McGrath Cup quarter-final at Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds, which produced a whopping nine goals and 34 points. It was all the more remarkable as the final quarter was played in virtual darkness and torrential rain which had briefly delayed the start of the second half. The Liam Kearns-managed UL proved deserving, if surprise, winners of a game in which they trailed by seven points 10 minutes into the second half. Those who went along to see the new black-card rule in operation were disappointed as no card of any colour was produced by referee Derek O’Mahoney.
For James O’Donoghue, from the Legion club in Killarney, it was an afternoon to remember. The All Star scored 1-10 for UL (five frees) and Paul Whyte scored 2-2 (1f) in the shock win. After the sides had been level twice during the opening period, UL led by a point — 3-7 to 2-9 — at the interval and might have had another goal from a shot which hit the cross-bar. They also fluffed another couple of good chances.
Michael Quinlivan 2-4 and Conor Cox 1-6 (3fs) top-scored for UCC, who were rocked by two Limerick goals inside as many minutes by Enda Hogan and Paul Whyte which tied the game after 51 minutes. Fittingly, O’Donoghue fired over the lead point for UL and they finished the stronger thanks to further points from the Kerry star.
Scorers — UL: J O’Donoughue 1-10 (5fs), P Whyte 2-2 (1f), P McHugh, B O’Shea 1-1 each, D Daly, J O’Rourke 0-2 each. UCC: M Quinlivan 2-4, C Cox 1-6 (3fs), T Hickey 1-3, B O’Driscoll, S Kiely, M O’Connor 0-1 each.
UL — R Byrne; E Kiely, M Tierney, C Lowry; D Dolan, T Clancy, L Mulligan; P McHugh, E Hogan; P Whyte, D Daly, J Spillane; B O’Shea, J O’Donoghue, J O’Rourke. Subs: A Barry for McHugh (66), M Eaton for Spillane (70).
UCC — S Mellett; D Culhane, E O’Mahony, D O’Donovan; B O’Driscoll, C Dorman, D Hazel; S Kiely, E Healy; A Spillane, A Cronin, G O’Sullivan; C Cox, M Quinlivan, T Hickey. Subs: S Keane for O’Sullivan (31), I McGuire for Hazel (34), M O’Connor for Spillane (43).
Ref — D O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
Fixture Details
McGrath Cup Senior Football Quarter-Final
University of Limerick v University College Cork
Venue: Gaelic Grounds Limerick @ 2:30pm
Referee: Derek O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
Extra time if necessary
For the Record
| UL | UCC | |
| 2013 McGrath Cup Performance | Lost to Waterford in the Quarter-Final by 0-16 to 0-12. | Lost to Kerry by 2-12 to 0-10 in the Quarter-Final. |
| Number of McGrath Cup Senior Football titles | 0 | 0 |
| Last McGrath Cup Senior Football Title | N/A | N/A |
| McGrath Cup Senior Football Record since 2000 | Played – 13 Won – 5 Lost – 8 Drawn – 0 |
Played – 16 Won – 7 Lost – 9 Drawn – 0 |
| Last meeting in the McGrath Cup | No previous meetings | |
Fixtures and Results
Quarter-Finals (Extra time)
Sunday January 5th
@ Austin Stack Park Tralee Kerry v IT Tralee @ 2:00pm
@ CIT GAA Grounds CIT v Mary I @ 2:00pm
@ Mallow Cork v LIT @ 2:00pm
@ Gaelic Grounds Limerick UL v UCC @ 2:30pm
Semi-Finals (Extra time)
Sunday January 12th
Kerry or IT Tralee v CIT or Mary I
Cork or LIT v UL or UCC
Final (Extra time)
Sunday January 19th
McGrath Cup Senior Football – Odds and Ends
Since 2000, Kerry’s McGrath Cup success rate is 88% (best of any county) winning 15 of their 17 matches (a 88% success rate). In the same period, Cork have won 85% of their matches in the competition with 17 wins out of 20.
There was an average of 2.5 goals per match in the 2013 McGrath Cup Competition (25 goals scored in total). This compares with an average of 2.4 goals per game in 2012 and 1.4 goals per game in 2011.
The record of the Third Level Colleges in the McGrath Cup since entering in 2005 is Won 21, Lost 49 (30% success rate). None of the six colleges have a winning record in the competition during that period. UCC have the best record, winning 7 of their 16 matches (44% success rate). CIT have won 6 of their 15 matches (40% success rate) followed by UL who have won 5 of their 13 matches (38% success rate). Meanwhile IT Tralee, LIT and WIT have won 3 out of 26 matches between them. Mary Immaculate College Limerick will compete for the first time in the 2014 McGrath Cup competition.
Kerry have not lost a match in the McGrath Cup since the 2006 final where the Kingdom lost to Cork by 1-9 to 0-6 at Pairc Ui Rinn.
McGrath Cup Senior Football Roll Of Honour
Clare (12) – 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008
Cork (6) – 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Limerick (5) – 1985, 1987, 2001, 2004, 2005
Kerry (4) – 1996, 2010, 2012
Tipperary (3) – 1989, 1993, 2003
Waterford (1) – 1981
London (1) – 1988
Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete Roll of Honour since the competition began in 1981 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/mcgrath-cup-football/
McGrath Cup
Presented by Joe McGrath on June 21st, 1981 for the promotion of Senior Football in Munster
