By JOHN FALLON
DCU Dóchas Éireann manager Stephen Duff hailed a phenomenal run of success as the college claimed the AIG O’Connor Cup for the third year in a row with a 2-11 to 1-9 victory over UCC at Queen’s University in Belfast.
Meath star and DCU DÉ skipper Emma Duggan led by example on Saturday with a haul of 1-5 as the Dublin college captured the title for the seventh time.
“It’s massive for our college. We spoke about it this morning, the last time we lost a game was the 9th of March 2022. We’ve now gone 28 games unbeaten with this group and it’s phenomenal, three full calendar years and a bit.
“They just looked so in control. I’m delighted for them, they’re the best people in the world and we just try to provide an environment for them to be their best. Delighted we got a chance to do that,” said Duff.
At Queen’s University, DCU DÉ led by 2-5 to 0-7 at the interval, with Clodagh Lohan getting their opening goal in what was a repeat of last year’s final.
And Duff praised the way they held off the UCC challenge after the restart.
“I think our togetherness as a group really stood to them. We’re delighted and we’re looking forward to celebrating this. We’ve a few girls leaving the group this year, but we’ve got a really good block of girls coming through there. They’re younger and they’re going to take ownership of this team now,” added Duff, who is also the Laois senior manager.
UCC manager Joe Carroll, whose side were bidding for their first crown since they won the title for the third time in 2012, said it was disappointing to lose for the third time in four years in the decider.
A goal from Emma Morrissey, who along with Roisin Ennis had won the title with DCU DÉ last year, gave them hope but they were unable to dethrone the champions.
“They’re experienced. They’ve a lot of those players now, they’re on their third year,” said Carroll.
“Their third medal in a row, so they have to gain experience in that. We haven’t and we’ve a lot of young players, we’ve a lot of that squad left again next year. It’s just back to the drawing board and see where you go from there.
“We’re only losing three off the starting 15 that will be gone next year. We have all the rest left, so we won’t still be that far off. We weren’t that far off this year.
“They beat us in the league final by a point and they beat us today by five.
“There’s nothing between the two teams on a given day. It could go either way,” added Carroll, who is also the Cork senior manager this season.
Meanwhile, MTU Cork, beaten in the final last year, won the Lynch Cup for the first time with a 3-10 to 0-6 win over UCD, while MIC Limerick won the Giles Cup for the fourth time with a 3-9 to 1-8 win over UCD.
Saturday’s Results:
AIG O’Connor Cup final: DCU Dóchas Éireann 2-11 UCC 1-9
AIG Lynch Cup final: MTU Cork 3-10 UCD 0-6
No: MIC Limerick 3-9 UCD 1-8
