Former UCD striker called up to Ireland squad
Former UCD AFC and current Derby County striker Conor Sammon is one of four newcomers to be called into Giovanni Trappatoni’s 27 man squad ahead of the friendly with Poland at the Aviva Stadium on February 6th. Nicknamed the “Sammon of College”, has been a meteoric rise for the Dubliner who enjoyed 3 seasons at Belfield between 2005 and 2007, scoring 13 goals in 69 appearances. His career has also taken him to Derry City, Kilmarnock, Wigan Athletic and now with the mid-table nPower Championship side. Looking back on his time spent in a UCD jersey, current UCD AFC assistant manager Diarmuid McNally said, “It’s a different footballer, he wasn’t the goal-scorer he is now. All he had here was potential but at UCD we had lots of players with potential and he didn’t stand out.” Mentally however McNally couldn’t fault Sammon, saying he had the drive to bring his game forward. “If you look at what he did subsequently, he moved to Derry because he knew they were a good club to go to if you wanted to get a move beyond the league,” says McNally. “Then he went to Kilmarnock, a move a lot of lads might not have been willing to make, and he made it work from there.” Pete Mahon, Sammons’ manager while at UCD , said he was surprised but delighted at the former UCD striker getting the call-up from Giovanni Trapattoni. “Last week against Notts Forest, it was the best game I’ve seen from him in a while. He wasn’t in a good situation at Wigan, getting most of his chances as a substitute,” says Mahon. “The level he’s at now, with Derby, he’s going to get the chance to play every week and continue his development.”
UCD’s McSharry makes Ireland ‘A’ debut
UCD and Connacht centre Dave McSharry made his Ireland ‘A’ international debut for the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds on Friday night, playing 69 minutes in a 14-10 defeat against the England Saxons at the Sportsground in Galway. Roared on by the home faithful, McSharry and fellow Connacht teammate Robbie Henshaw enjoyed a few early carries and looked assured throughout.
UCD Hurlers Walsh Cup match against Dublin called off
UCD Senior Hurlers were unable to build on their opening 0-15 1-11 Walsh Cup victory over Laois on F
riday night as their game against Dublin at Parnell Park was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. No date for the rescheduled game has been made yet. The Hurlers begin their Fitzgibbon Cup campaign at home to Limerick IT this Thursday January 31st at 2pm in Belfield.
Comerford wins 800m at Swedish Grand Prix
UCD Elite Athlete Academy student, Lisa Comerford just won the 800m freestyle at the Swedish in Uppsala. Lisa finished in a great time of 9:22:15 to come away with the gold. Scholarship student Shauna O Brien also claimed a bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.32 seconds
Leinster Victories for Men and Women Hockey Teams
Both the Men and Women’s Senior Hockey teams recorded home victories at the National Hockey Stadium in Belfield at the weekend. The Men came back from 1-0 down to beat Fingal 3-1 with the goals coming from Nick Burns and a brace from Jeremy Duncan. Meanwhile the Women’s team beat Pembroke Wanderers 4-0. Anna O’Flanagan was on target as was Nikki Evans who helped herself to a hat trick.
25 Elite Athlete Scholarships awarded
The Ad Astra Scholarship Ceremony was held last Thursday in the O’Reilly Hall, with 25 Elite Athlete Academy Scholarships awarded. The scholars form an esteemed list of outstanding talent across many sports:
(UCD EAA students: Athletics- David Campbell, Mark English, Ciara Everard, Ciara Mageean; GAA- Cillian Buckley, Kevin Dyas, John Heslin, Joe Lyng, Jack McCaffrey, Noel McGrath, Rory O’Carroll, Matthew O’Hanlon, William Phelan, Grace Walsh; Golf- Alexander Gleeson, Chloe Ryan; Hockey (Ladies)- Niamh Atcheler, Leah Ewart, Brenda Flannery, Nicola Gray, Katie Mullen, Anna O’Flanagan, Chloe Watkins; Hockey (Mens)- Nicholas Burns, Ross Canning, Luke Chadwick, Ben Dobson, Jeremy Duncan, Shane O’Donoghue; Modern Pentatholon- Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe, Claire Lambe, Paul O’Donovan; Rugby- Andrew Boyle, Bryan Byrne, Edward Byrne, Sam Coghlan-Murray, Patrick Dix, David Doyle, Conor Gilsenan, Eoin Joyce, Daniel Leavy, Luke Leavy, Luke McGrath, Sean O’Brien; Sailing- Annalise Murphy; Soccer (Ladies)- Dora Gorman, Ciara Grant, Siobhan Killeen; Soccer (Mens) Tomas Boyle, Niall Corbet, Robert Creevy, Michael Leahy; Swimming- Lisa Comerford, Aisling Cooney, Donal Drought.
-Conall Devlin
