Clane’s O’Shea leads Maynooth University to Collingwood Cup glory
Maynooth University captain Dean O'Shea is presented with the Collingwood Cup by Michael Henchy of tournament sponsors Campion Insurance following their 2-0 win over UL in the final at Jackman Park, Limerick. Photo: Mark Nolan
Maynooth University are back-to-back Collingwood Cup champions. They claimed the blue riband title of the Irish Universities Football Union (IUFU) season, with Clane’s Dean O’Shea skipper, as they saw off the University of Limerick, 2-0 in Wednesday’s decider.
To cap a memorable three days on Shannonside, O’Shea was awarded Player of the Tournament. He collected that accolade before lifting the silverware historic silverware on behalf of his teammates, which has been running at third level since 1914.
Goals from Taylor McCarthy and Taylor Mooney, both arriving in the the second half helped them to victory. UL’s frustration led to two late red cards, which them finish with nine men, allowing Maynooth to close the festival of football with a third straight victory.
Following a narrow victory over DCU on Monday (3-2), Alex Sheerin’s second double was largely the difference as the Kildare students dismissed UCC, 3-0 in the last four. Both those games were on astro turf at the University of Limerick, before the final took place on grass, at Jackman Park, in Limerick City.
“I don't think the week could have went much better for us - absolutely delighted with that”, explained captain O’Shea.
“We’ve faced UL a good few times over the years, and you always know what you're going to get with UL – a big physical side, good in the air who fight for every ball, every second ball and they try to get in they try to build momentum from the start.”
Having spent the three days in Limerick, it was perhaps surprising to see manager James O’Callaghan naming the same XI for the final, as he did in that semi-final, but O’Shea and Co. dug deep.
“You know, from my first Collingwood to now, it's very tough. It's a mental challenge as well, to have the three games. I played last Friday too”, explained the 23-year-old.
UL, captained by Maynooth native Tom Kelly, contested a physical contest, until that breakthrough from McCarthy just beyond the hour mark. From here, O’Shea’s guile and leadership from the left-flank helped his troops over the line, at a soaked Jackman Park.
“We knew, and we kind of had an eye on them during the week. So we kind of knew what to expect, and we knew if we matched that that we'd have a few boys at the individual quality to help us get over the line.”
O’Shea who is with Bray Wanderers for the 2026 season, is now finished his time with Maynooth, “it's one of the highlights of my career, and yeah, I'm going to miss it definitely”, he said of third level football.
“The first couple of years I thought I would never win one, and you see the players that have gone through Maynooth, some of them have won it, some have gone on to have great careers.
“We lost a lot of lads from last year (who graduated), we’ve a very young side here. It took us until after the first game to click and it is one of the highlights of my career.”
It is just a third title for Maynooth, who have certainly made their quality shine in recent years.
Andrew Stuart-Trainor; Jonathan Kehir, Fellum Dikcius, Ozaze Irkue; Finn Cowper Gray, Taylor McCarthy, Harry O’Connor, Taylor Mooney (Matthew McCarrick, 89), Dean O’Shea (C); Darragh Murtagh, Alex Sheerin (William Sheerin, 88).
Josh Coady; Conor Carew, Tom Kelly (C), Alex Cuddy, Joey Rushe (Luke Ryan, 72); Alex Cuddy, Fintan O’Kelly (Jack Ahern, 77), Isaac O’Sullivan (Dean Hegarty, 77) ; David Holden, Matt Jones; Leon Daly.
Mark Kennedy
