Soccer

Five-star UL make history with a first Collingwood Cup success

Limerick side prove far too strong for Trinity as they become the 10th name to be inscribed on the trophy

UL celebrate their victory over Trinity College in the final of the Collingwood Cup at Cappagh Park in Galway.
UL celebrate their victory over Trinity College in the final of the Collingwood Cup at Cappagh Park in Galway.
Mike Rafferty at Cappagh Park
Wed Feb 21 2024 - 18:18
Collingwood Cup Final: UL 5 TCD 0

UL created Collingwood Cup history in Galway on Wednesday when they won the coveted Universities soccer title for the first time in their history and in the process became the 10th team to win the trophy.

For the duration of this final they were the dominant side, taking a 3-0 lead by half-time and pushing home their superiority with two more goals in the second half.

Having seen off Ulster University in the quarter-final 1-0 and followed that up with a 2-0 semi-final victory over the holders UCD, they were on the front foot from the opening exchanges and broke the deadlock courtesy of an Edmund O’Dwyer penalty on 18 minutes after Alex Cuddy was upended in the box.

Backboned by a solid defensive structure where Alex Cuddy and Tom Kelly were outstanding, UL limited Trinity College to shots from distance as goalkeeper Josh Coady remained untroubled for almost the duration. At the other end, two goals in quick succession before the break put them in a commanding position.

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Left back Josh Rushe curled a beautifully struck free kick over the defensive wall on 36 minutes, before they quickly made it 3-0 when Ewan O’Brien released the very impressive O’Dwyer to race away and slot home the third past Oisín Hayes. The Tipperary native was scoring for the third game in succession and in the process was a worthy recipient of the player of the tournament trophy.

Any hope of a Trinity comeback were quickly killed off on the resumption as Leon Daly made it four with a close-range finish. Now while there was no shortage of desire and commitment from the Dublin side, their opportunities in the last third of the park continued to be limited. A Denis Smith shot did result in a tip over save by Coady, while Jay Walsh did lob an effort over the advancing goalkeeper, but his effort drifted wide of a post.

Theo Joyce brought the scoring to a conclusion with the best goal of the game on 68 minutes when a searing run took him past a number of defenders before a powerful finish flew into the far top corner past Hayes.

UL: Coady, Carew, Rushe, Cuddy, Kelly (Breen, 49), O’Brien (Sidorov, 74), Daly (Jennings, 74), Redmond, O’Dwyer (McCarthy, 81), Kidd, Joyce (Walsh, 82).

TCD: Hayes, D Smith, Byrne (Quaid, 53), Holbert, Timmons, Geary, Derham (Johnson, 46), H Smith (Creed, 67), Walsh, Madaghjian (Richardson, 85), Awodola.

Referee: Marc Lynch (Galway).

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