St Mary’s University College advanced into the Quarter Finals of the Ulster Bank Division 1 Freshers’ Football Championship with a 2-8 – 2-5 victory over GMIT.
The game, played in blustery conditions at Na Fainna GAC in Dublin, proved to be a tight affair throughout.
Playing with the aid of a strong breeze St Mary’s had the majority of possession but found themselves trailing by two points after GMIT claimed the first goal of the game midway through the first half. The Ranch responded with a goal of their own from half forward Daniel McKindless and three free kicks from midfielder Dermot McVeigh to lead by four points at the break.
GMIT made the most of their wind advantage in the second half with a quick succession of points and a goal from a penalty.
The Ranch was forced to dig deep and their defence began to dominate as GMIT were unable to capitalise on their possession and Captain Richard O’Callaghan began to gain a foothold in the midfield area.
The vital score came with ten minutes to go in the contest when Dermot McVeigh got on the end of a well-worked move to fire to the net and put St Mary’s ahead by 2 points.
In a frantic last ten minutes St Mary’s were forced to defend their lead but again defended heroically and substitute Mark Rea fired over from close range to seal the victory on a score line of 2-8 – 2-5.
Scorers: Dermot McVeigh 1-4, Daniel McKindless 1-0, Michael Murray 0-1, Niall Morgan 0-1, Darren Boyd 0-1, Mark Rea 0-1.