Some of the best football talent in Monaghan played a significant part in propelling Dublin City University to Sigerson Cup success last spring. On and off the field, the Farneysiders impressed Not too long ago, the only Dublin college in the mix when it came to shelling out Sigerson Cup triumphs was UCD. It seemed to the uninitiated that Trinity College Dublin et al were barely in the frame and certainly couldn't be considered anything other than cannon fodder if, on the odd occasion, they managed to qualify for the competition. But in recent years an altogether different picture has emerged. The Belfield boys are no longer guaranteed to be the chief standard bearers for the Metropolitan academics on the blue riband football stage. Certainly the southsiders have even been forced to operate in the shadows of those plying their skills on the other side of the Liffey in recent years. Who could seriously argue now that, for instance, Dublin City University is simply just the other university on the north side of Dublin with little GAA pedigree and even less potential? In 2006 DCU won the Sigerson Cup for the first time in its history. Household names such as Bryan Cullen (Dublin), Paul Casey (Dublin), Bernard Brogan (Dublin), Declan Lally (Dublin), Stephen Cluxton (Dublin), Conor Mortimer (Mayo) and, last but not least, Eoin Lennon of Latton and Monaghan featured on the team. From its humble beginnings as NIHE in 1983 to its university status in 1991, DCU now has the sports facilities and the footballers to match the best in the country. DCU Sport is composed of the University Sports Club, DCU Sports Grounds and the newly opened five a side Soccer Centre. A number of north side GAA clubs such as Na Fianna, St. Vincent's and Ballymun Kickhams regularly use the college facilities. As does DCU blue chip footballers such as double Sigerson Cup winner Lennon, Vincent Corey (Clontibret), Shane Smyth (Monaghan Harps), Mark McNally (Carrick Emmets), Ciaran Hanratty ('Blayney Faughs) and Darragh Mooney (Clontibret) - all Monaghan men with county experience. All six have made sizeable contributions to boosting DCU's Gaelic football c.v. over the last couple of years. In 2006 the Monaghan/DCU alliance proved to be a mutually beneficial arrangement and, ultimately, a supremely profitable alliance as the one-time unfashionable football nursery skipped to a fantastic Sigerson Cup triumph. "The facilities in DCU are top class," Eoin Lennon explains. "There's a real professional environment in the college as regards all types of sports there and it helps everyone to achieve their goals." Certainly the development of the relationship between the burgeoning Monaghan contingent and DCU has seen both parties scale heights that may not have been achieveable yesteryear. "I think you have to improve as a footballer with the kind of facilities that are at the college, like the ice baths and spas and gym," Eoin opines. "The kind of training we do at DCU complements what we do with our clubs and the county - it's an all year round thing at this stage." But after a horrendous knee injury which put him out of action for so much of last year, the strapping midfielder is only too happy to be fit enough to train and play for practically 12 months of the year. Does he believe that DCU's victory in the flagship Higher Education football competition helped boost Monaghan football's stock? "It has to," he says unequivocally. "Especially when you consider that we had Niall Moyna and Declan Brennan along the line. "I think both of them brought football to a whole new level in the college. Declan, through his job of Director of Sport, has been a huge influence." While there is, of course, a number of players from Cavan, Meath, Louth and Dublin represented on the DCU squad, year on year, the degree of influence wielded on the DCU football scene in 2006 by those of a Monaghan hue cannot be overstated. The camaraderie engendered by having clusters of players, such as the aforementioned sextet from the Farney county, isn't lost on Latton's Lennon. "The fact that you're so familiar with the lads you're playing with definitely helps the team, helps the spirit in the camp and you have a better idea of what each player is going to do during a game. "Playing Sigerson Cup brings you on a tonne as a player because practically every game is a big game. "The standard of football is very high at college level, somewhere around half-way between club level and inter-county level." Those teams that toe the line at the start of the race each year to win the most prestigious college football title know that they'll have to fight it out on grounds in less than pristine condition and in weather conditions that's hardly hotter than July. More often than not, the matches are played out on glue-like, sodden surfaces amidst a mix of wind and rain. The matches may not be played at a provincial championship-type pace but it's tough, hard football and testing too. Such was the case last February when the DCU crew, Monaghan men included, grappled with the Garda in a fiery second round affair after a bye was the Dublin side's lot in the first round. Ultimately it took a brace of timely points from Dublin senior county panellist Ross McConnell to sway the issue in DCU's favour. "Looking back, the game against the Garda team was probably our best display of the year because we had to really dig deep. "They had some real quality players, like James Masters of Cork," Eoin opines. Next up for the Monaghan-powered college kingpins was Cork Information Technology and again it was a closely fought affair which was dogged, dour duel. Ground conditions meant that most games were more often than not real wars of attrition. It was more often than not a case of 'survival of the fittest' and in that scenario, DCU's 'Monaghan mafia' certainly fairly embellished their individual and collective reputations. "It's a matter of getting stuck in with a lot of the matches," Eoin explains. "It's hard to express yourself or try and play intricate football when the conditions aren't so good. "That's the way it was in the semi-final against Cork." Parnell Park, Dublin on February 25th last marked the venue and date of the 2006 Sigerson Cup final between DCU and Queens University, Belfast. Once again the match stuck to the script. It was a tight, evenly-contested and slow-grinding tie in which DCU won a majority of the battles in yet another war of attrition. Queens converted a penalty midway through the second half and looked to be on their way to another grand title win. But the dismissal of a player served to take the rug from under Queens' bid for glory. "We got a bit of a break when they went down to 14 men," says the experienced Lennon. "We really capitalised on having a spare man because Conor Mortimer was left free and he did a lot of damage for us." Does Eoin think DCU's second consecutive Sigerson Cup success reflect well on the quality of players boasting Monaghan heritage? "It must be a healthy sign for the county that there were a few fellas from Monaghan involved in the campaign. "You'd be hoping that other Monaghan lads attending college and who are coming up through the ranks would get encouragement from what some of us achieved. "I think the amount of lads doing well at college level is a good sign of the strength in depth in Monaghan right now. "All of us involved with DCU are currently involved with the county seniors and winning the Sigerson Cup is great for the confidence." 2007 will be Eoin's last year in DCU as he completes his Sports Science and Health studies. He is glad though that the rest of the Monaghan crew will be on board too. "It'll be very hard to put titles back to back but we'll give it our best shot." Understandably he fingers the college's Sigerson Cup heroics as the highlights of his time to date in Dublin. "You can't beat getting an All-Ireland medal. "I'd say the other lads from Monaghan and everyone else on the team would say the same. "I didn't get to the play-off stages with the college before last season. "Playing with a lot of very good footballers has been great too. "Apart from the lads from Monaghan, you have the likes of Kevin Reilly from Meath and Bryan Cullen of Dublin. "It was great experience." Did he think that DCU would be strong enough to go the distance in the Sigerson Cup? "I thought it was easily the best college team I'd been involved with over the past three years but it was hard to know what we were going to do at the start of the year. "We played in the O'Byrne Cup but only beat Carlow so there was no chance of us being over-confident going into the Sigerson. "I thought we had the guts of a good team though." Championship football is about the bounce of the ball and keeping up with the pace of things. In the Sigerson Cup, it's about getting down and dirty. So who's likely to be up to it in 2007? "We'll give it our best shot but you'll have the likes of Queens who'll be bursting a gut to win back the cup. "But we'll have some good freshers coming through for next year. "Kevin McGourty of Antrim and Cavan's Ray Cullivan are good prospects and with all the lads from Monaghan back, we'll not be that far away." Tweet

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