Martin McHugh hailed UUJ's never-say-die spirit after they claimed their second Ryan Cup in three years courtesy of an extra-time victory over DCU on Wednesday night.

Armagh's Ethan Rafferty scored the only goal in extra-time, while Donegal's Paddy McBrearty contributed seven points for the Jordanstown men who prevailed by 1-15 to 0-13, despite being minus the services of Eoin McHugh (Donegal), Kieran Hughes (Monaghan) and the Tyrone trio Rory Brennan, Mark Bradley and Padraig Hampsey.

The league success bodes well for UUJ's Sigerson Cup aspirations in the New Year and manager McHugh enthused in the Irish News: "People might say there's big names in Jordanstown, but it's not about big names, it's not about the players who were missing, it's about the performance of the players on the field and they showed great character and heart.

"When we were three points down it looked bad, but we had two good periods of extra-time. I think that extra-time will stand to the players and will stand to their level of fitness for their counties as well.

"The big thing in that game was the spirit that we showed when we looked like we had the game lost."

Tweet

Most Read Stories