University of Limerick power into Sigerson Cup quarter-finals

HAVING thrown away a match-winning lead the week before to lose on penalties to TU Dublin, University of Limerick made no mistake on their home turf in Maguire's Field on Tuesday night when they scorched past Southeast Technological University Carlow in their losers' group clash on a 4-10 to 1-4 scoreline to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Sigerson Cup.

Although they struggled to make a mark on the scoreboard before the break as three goal chances were blocked on the goal-line by desperate Carlow defending, ULs first two second-half efforts found the net within five minutes of each other soon after the restart to end the game as a contest.

However, that they were in a position to kill off the result so early was down to centre-forward Emmet McMahon whose four successful strikes from play created the five-point advantage at half-time and concentrated minds on not repeating the collapse against TUD.

Such was the efficiency of UL's team play on this occasion that they could afford to sub county players Eoghan McLoughlin of Mayo and Paul Keaney of Leitrim soon after the break and still keep up the level of their performance.

Carlow just hadn't the same spread of talent with Colm Hutton their only forward showing an eye for the target and their cause wasn't helped by two of their full-back limping off injured just after the break as their opponents were unleashing their goal rush.

Josh Moore denied UL a dream start with his full-length block on Aaron Griffin's goal effort and, after McMahon's opener, Griffin, once again after being fed by Ciarán Downes, was denied a second time by Matthew Byron before Downes's score was met by Hutton getting Carlow off the mark.

When Mark Lenehan pointed and was followed by a McMahon pair, UL finally got some reward for their dominance before Hutton struck back again only to be met by McMahon bagging his fourth. Lenehan could have opened a serious gap a minute later but, once again the shot was smothered on the line, this time by Cian Maher, before Keaney's injury time free left UL leading 0-7 to 0-2 at the break.

Any fears UL might have had of repeating their previous round's disintegration eased after Cian Maher's free opened the second-half scoring when Griffin collected off McLoughlin to goal from a tight angle and, following Keaney's free, they disappeared entirely when Downes, again fed by McLoughlin, raced on to rattle to the net.

By the three-quarter mark, Brian McNamara's shot had been saved only for Downes to bang home the rebound.

Despite Gerald Griffins' Tommy Griffin replying immediately at the other end with a ground shot off a goalmouth scramble, fellow-Limerickman John Hayes of Saint Kieran's pointed for UL and was followed by Cian Glennon fisting over the advancing Byron for Seán McDonnell to tap over the goal line before Hutton struck back with his third to complete the scoring.

SCORERS: UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: Ciarán Downes 2-1, Emmet McInerney 0-5, Aaron Griffin, Seán McDonnell 1-0 each, Paul Keaney 0-2 (1 free, 1'45'), Mark Lenehan, John Hayes 0-1 each; SOUTHEAST TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY CARLOW: Colm Hutton 0-3, Tommy Griffin 1-0, Cian Farrell 0-1 (free).

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: Conor Flaherty (Galway); Colm Moriarty (Kerry), Mark Dempsey (Kildare), Donal Casey (Leitrim); Darragh Cashman (Cork), Daniel Walsh (Clare), Eoghan McLoughlin (Mayo); Brian McNamara (Clare), Paul Keaney (Leitrim); Ciarán Downes (Clare), Emmet McMahon (Clare), Mark Lenehan (Cork); Paul Walsh (Kerry), Jack Coyne (Mayo), Aaron Griffin (Clare). SUBS: Seán McDonnell (Cork) for Paul Walsh (half-time), John Hayes (Limerick) for Eoghan McLoughlin (41 minutes), Cian Glennon (Roscommon) for Paul Keaney (41 minutes), Oisín Looney (Clare) for Ciarán Downes (47 minutes), Jack O'Brien (Offaly) for Jack Coyne (48 minutes).

SOUTHEAST TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY CARLOW: Matthew Byron (Laois); Pádraig O'Shea (Cork), Jack Donohue (Wexford), Pádraig Deering (Carlow); Cian Maher (Monaghan), Eoin Murtagh (Wicklow), Conor Doyle (Carlow); Eoin Hackett (Louth), Darren McDermott (Offaly); Josh Moore (Carlow), Cian Farrell (Offaly), Seán Cassidy (Louth); Peter O'Driscoll (Cork), Colm Hutton (Carlow), Tommy Griffin (Limerick). SUBS: Adam Steed (Kildare) for Seán Cassidy (half-time), Michael Lynam (Westmeath) for Cian Maher (half-time), Cian Maher for Jack Donohue (injured, 35 minutes), Olin Barry (Cork) for Pádraig O'Shea (injured, 35 minutes), Sam Holohan (Wexford) for Peter O'Driscoll (52 minutes).

REFEREE: Chris Maguire (Clare).