It was hard to identify the governing Queen's emotion at Belfield yesterday. On the one hand there was delight at a comprehensive win in the backyard of one of the most serious contenders for this year's Sigerson. But uppermost were feelings of relief as the Belfast club can now look forward to hosting the finals weekend free from the prospect of having to be Banquo's ghost at their own party.
Whereas UCD were certainly a disappointment, this was an impressive display from Queen's whose reputation as a defence-driven outfit was enhanced by a smoothly competent attack which buried the match in a burst of scoring at the end of the third quarter.
The winners established a consistent rhythm throughout and although they struggled a bit in the first half before salvation arrived in the form of a soft goal, their constant pressure eventually eroded UCD's resistance.
The search for turning-points isn't a protracted one. Pat Walsh's 11th-minute goal - after Derek Savage's shot had run across the square - appeared to have swung momentum UCD's way and the home side maintained a three-point lead for most of the half.
In the 27th minute, the industrious Tom Brewster combined with Enda McNulty on the right wing for Queen's. The wing back's high kick dropped into the area where it broke for Colm Hanratty whose shot flew straight at goalkeeper Cathal O'Connor.
Unfortunately for the Cork-man, all he managed to do was parry the ball into his own net to level the scores at 1-4 each. To drive home their advantage, Queen's finished the half with good points from play by Barry Ward and Colin Holmes.
During UCD's spell on top, their forwards had looked more pacy and penetrative. Ciaran McManus belied his shoulder injury by putting in a robust performance on the 40 and David Hannify was showing well at centre-field.
Galway's centre-back John Divilly was a dominant figure and caught a heap of ball as well as tackling effectively but his distribution was uncharacteristically wayward.
Within a minute of the restart, McManus had cut the deficit but efforts to eliminate it foundered on a run of wides culminating in McManus's wide from a free. In retrospect it was UCD's last chance.
Between the 41st and 46th minutes, Queen's blew over five points, mainly from their excellent half-forward line - identified by coach Dessie Ryan as the unit which swung the match. Brewster, Tyrone's minor All-Ireland winning captain Cormac McAnallen, and Ward all contributed to the scoring as the lead reached 1-11 to 1-5.
The winners' defence also did its bit and shut out their vaunted opponents and conceded only one further point. Ward added a grace note in the 58th minute to send Queen's onto a quarter-final meeting with DIT in Belfast on March 5th.
Queen's University, Belfast: C Rafferty (Tyrone); Paddy Campbell (Donegal), P Quinn (Fermanagh), E McGilloway (Derry); E McNulty (Armagh), C Holmes (Tyrone) 0-1, A O'Rourke (Armagh) 0-1; J McNulty (Armagh) capt, J Quinn (Antrim); T Brewster (Fermanagh) 0-3, all frees, C McAnallen (Tyrone) 0-2, B Ward (Donegal) 0- 3; D Wilson (Armagh) 0-1, C Coleman (Galway) 0-1, C Hanratty (Armagh) 1-0. Subs: Peter Campbell for J Quinn (52 mins), James Byrne (Armagh) for Coleman (52 mins), N McElvanna (Tyrone) for Wilson (61 mins).
UCD: C O'Connor (Cork); N Maguire (Sligo), I Clarke (Dublin), P Andrews (Dublin); D Breen (Wexford), J Divilly (Galway), B O'Donovan (Wicklow); N Crawford (Meath), D Hannify (Longford); D Meehan (Galway), C McManus (Offaly) 0-4, two frees, C McGrath (Meath); D Savage (Galway) capt, 0-1, J Lynch (Kerry) 0-1, P Walsh (Mayo) 1-0. Subs: M O'Keeffe (Dublin) for McGrath (39 mins), P Farrell (Leitrim) for Walsh (54 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
