UCC 7-26 Athlone IT 2-3

University College Cork came out on top in quite devastating fashion in this Sigerson Cup first-round clash against Athlone IT.

The game was played at the Mardyke.

UCC, the hosts, were utterly dominant from the first whistle and continued to be so throughout the contest.

Now progressing into the quarter-finals of the Sigerson, UCC will know that much sterner tests than this await them, but they have a talent-laden team.

They have the potential to go a very long way in this competition.

UCC were dominant in every single department, from defence to attack.

They tore open the Athlone defence with relative ease right from the get go and that was the pattern that sustained itself over the hour or so of play.

Their slickness and movement were just too much for Athlone to handle.

There is a strong representation of kerry players on this UCC team and they all caused Athlone numerous problems here.

Paudie Clifford, the brother of David, found the back of the net with a hat-trick, while Killian Spillane scored a number of astutely taken points.

Corkman Conor Horgan was also to find the back of the net for UCC with a brace of finishes, as did Gary Murphy and Conor Geaney, with one goal apiece.

UCC will have to wait and see whom their opposition in the last-eight will be, but the Cork college have most certainly thrown down the gauntlet to the other contenders.

Scorers for UCC: P Clifford (3 -1) , G Murphy (1-4) , C Horgan (2-1), K Spillane (0-5), C Geaney (1-1), E Courtney (0-4), S O’Shea (0-3, 1 f), C Kiely, D Shaw (0-2 each), J McEntee, G O’Sullivan, R Buckley (0-1 each).

Scorers for AIT: R Brady, B Berry (1-0 each), D McManus (0-2), G Horan (0-1).

UCC: E O’Brien (Kerry); L O’Donovan (Cork), K Flahive (Cork), G O’Sullivan (Kerry); J McEntee (Meath), D O’Brien (Kerry), C Kiely (Cork); J Kennedy (Tipperary), P Lucey (Kerry); C Horgan (Cork), S O’Shea (Kerry), P Clifford (Kerry); G Murphy (Cork), K Spillane (Kerry), E Courtney (Clare).

Subs: B Begley (Kerry) for D O’Brien (28 inj), M Flood (Kerry) for L O’Donovan (half-time), A Barry (Kerry) for J Kennedy (half-time), C Geaney (Kerry) for S O’Shea (half-time), D Shaw (Kerry) for K Spillane (half-time), R Buckley (Kerry) for C Horgan (38).

ATHLONE IT: C Haslam (Galway); D Healy (Westmeath), D Carroll (Westmeath), E Tully (Roscommon); E O’Connor (Clare), D McManus (Roscommon), J Smith (Meath); K Maguire (Cavan), G Horan (Kerry); S Keogh (Cavan), R Brady (Longford), D Mullan (Roscommon); R Forde (Westmeath), B Berry (Westmeath), S Maher (Longford).

Subs: C McDonagh (Galway) for J Smith (20), C O’Dea (Mayo) for S Keogh (38), T Lennon (Westmeath) for D Mullen (50).

Referee: R Moloney (Limerick).