RONAN McGeehin and his Ulster University side will chase Sigerson Cup glory tonight when they take on UCD in the final at Austin Stack Park, Tralee (throw-in, 7.30pm).
McGeehin has been lining out in goal for UU this season and has delivered a number of strong performances.
The St Eunan’s star was Donegal Under 20 goalkeeper in 2020 and has been part of the senior football panel in recent seasons.
A third-year Computing Technologies student, McGeehin didn’t try out for the Sigerson side last year but he quickly established himself as number one this term.
“At the end of the 2022 season I had an ankle ligaments injury after the club championship, so I was trying to get that right and I didn’t go for the Sigerson team,” McGeehin told the Donegal News.
“This season I went down to the first trial just to see how I would get on.
“There were a lot of really talented players trying out for the team.
“I think the first group chat that was made had over 300 names in it so there was obviously a lot of competition.
“It has whittled down since that but I have managed to stay involved.
“I played in the Ryan Cup before Christmas and we got to the final against Galway.
“But the team is very different now to what it was then.”
Ulster University saw off UCC by three points in their first game but then had to go through the back door after losing to UCD by 1-13 to 0-8.
However, they bounced back with victories over MTU Cork and TU Dublin and they saw off Maynooth University by 1-13 to 0-11 at Inniskeen last Thursday evening.
“We lost to UCD down there in Round 2.
“At half-time we spoke about how we were giving the ball away and the mistakes we were making.
“But we basically just doubled down on the mistakes then in the second half, and we couldn’t break them down.
“Thankfully we have gelled well as a team since that and we have had some good results.
“We have a lot of good players but it’s just about building up that chemistry and trusting each other more.”
Ulster University haven’t won the Sigerson Cup since 2008 which is a long time for the Jordanstown-based institution.
They haven’t been able to call upon Derry trio Conor Glass, Eoin McEvoy and Ethan Doherty at any stage during this run.
However, they still have a star-studded side and McGeehin has loved playing alongside some of the best players in Ulster.
Ronan McGeehin.
“I really enjoy playing in the Sigerson.
“It’s great that you have all these players from all over Ulster and there are rivalries at intercounty and club level but everyone just comes together then for the Sigerson team.
“We have Niall Loughlin from Derry and Ciaran Daly and Ruairi and Darragh Canavan from Tyrone, and Ronan McCaffrey and Josh Largo Ellis from Fermanagh. There’s a good spread.
“They are all training and playing with their counties and bringing that back to our team then.”
McGeehin is more than comfortable out the field as well and has played at full-forward for St Eunan’s at times over the last two years.
However, he doesn’t think Ulster University will be needing him in attack this Wednesday.
“No I’m just an out-and-out goalkeeper in this team.
“If he (Barry Dillon, manager) is planning on playing me outfield, he’s keeping it as a secret anyway.
“With the two Canavans and Niall Loughlin, I don’t think we will need me up front.”
UCD are aiming for their first title since 2018 and it will be a tough encounter for McGeehin and his teammates. Aodh Ruadh’s Shane McGrath is part of the panel for the Belfield men.
“We will probably be underdogs down in Tralee,” said McGeehin (23).
“UCD are a very strong team. They beat Limerick by a point in their semi-final and that was probably the toughest game they had all season.
“They have a lot of settled county players like Daire Cregg, Ben O’Carroll, David Garland, and Ryan O’Toole who are household names.
“It won’t be easy but we will definitely give it a good go and we are going down there to win.”
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