Home advantage was of no benefit for Trinity’s gaelic footballers as they took on Dublin City University (DCU), situated just minutes away from Santry Avenue. The persistent rain made it a frustrating and slow game for both teams, with DCU coming out on top by four points.
DCU opened the scoring two minutes in after winding the team’s way through the Trinity defence. Trinity hit back soon after with a free from Bryan Magee. Magee was solid from frees for the whole game and kept the scoreboard ticking over for Trinity.
DCU nearly got in for the team’s first goal after 10 minutes, but the shot was kept out by Trinity keeper Michael Shiel. The teams exchanged points for the next 20 minutes, with both trying to build slowly from the back and avoid long passing because of the conditions. Five minutes before the end of the half, DCU managed to hack home a scrappy goal to give them the edge going into the break.
DCU dominated the beginning of the second half, scoring three unanswered points in two minutes and keeping the ball for long periods. Trinity stayed in the game courtesy of frees from Magee and a few good points from centre-back Keelan Beirne and midfielder James McGuinness.
The game looked dead until 22 minutes into the second half when Trinity were gifted a goal-scoring opportunity which they failed to convert. Minutes later, Trinity had another opportunity, but again the team were unable to take it. McGuinness scored a couple of points after this but DCU were beyond reach and sealed their win with a stylish point just as the final whistle blew. The game finished 1–14 to 0–13.
Both teams had plenty of men behind the ball when defending, which slowed down the game and coupled with heavy rain, the game descended into a low scoring and scrappy affair. If Trinity had taken one of the two goal-scoring opportunities near the end of the game, the team might have pushed on and gotten the win. This is the players’ third close defeat in three games, but they shouldn’t feel sorry for themselves: sport is all about small margins.
