Sigerson Cup final: Paul O'Keeffe has no fear of Croker occasion getting to his players

UCC boss Paul O’Keeffe is confident his players will handle the occasion of playing in Croke Park as the Cork side face University of Limerick tonight (7.35pm).

The Sigerson Cup final is an all-Munster affair, a repeat of the 2023 decider, with the high possibility that it will go down to the wire. 

UCC defeated University of Galway in their semi-final last Thursday, 1-11 to 1-8. In the other last four contest, University of Limerick got the better of Queen's University Belfast after extra-time last Friday on a scoreline of 3-23 to 2-21.

UCC are going for a 25th title in this competition having last won it back in 2023. They hadn’t exactly pulled up any trees in the Sigerson Cup in 2024 and ’25, which meant they went under the radar coming into this season. They have surprised quite a few.

“From the start of the season I kind of always felt that there was a huge panel there and we have massive depth within the panel,” O'Keeffe says.

“You have a lot of experienced senior club players on the panel from the likes of Ballincollig, Castlehaven and Nemo. They’ve been playing actively with their own senior club teams for a good few years, so it’s not like they’re inexperienced young players, they’re kind of seasoned senior club players in Cork.

“But like as I said a few weeks ago, I think this current group is probably one of the strongest Sigerson Cup UCC panels since I got involved in management a long time ago. I think people probably thought I was over-egging it when I made that comment last month, but genuinely, I think the proof is in the pudding and we're in a Sigerson Cup final on the back of it.

“I think time will tell in terms of who goes on to bigger and better things, but I think there’s plenty of fellas on this panel that will be future stars for both Cork and Kerry.” 

UCC will have to defeat a fancied University of Limerick outfit if they want to bring home the trophy. O’Keeffe is confident in his charges.

“University of Limerick have been the form team, so look, that presents a different type of challenge,” he said.

“We played them in the league and we were wasteful, they beat us by a few points, but I’m not sure how strong they were on the night. It was a close game. But look, having said that, we have no fears whatsoever going into any final and particularly in the Sigerson, it’s all on the night and who turns up.” 

It’s not a surprise that UCC are the underdogs going into this final later on today. It’s a tag they have become used to in the Sigerson Cup this year. They have the quality though to win the match, but playing in Croke Park will be a different ball game.

“It’s a bit similar to the semi-final at the Mardyke the last day against University of Galway in terms of managing the occasion. This is a bigger occasion, it’s a final, and look, I think in finals, you just need to find something within yourself to get yourself over the line and dig a bit deeper and forget about the location.

“I think for University of Limerick and ourselves, it’s going to be a massive occasion. Playing in Croke Park is a special thing in itself, and particularly if you’re playing in a final. It’s going to come down to who responds best to the pressure. I’ve no worries about our lads. They’ll be well up for it.”