Kildare men begin their Sigerson Cup campaigns on Friday
Maynooth Univerity's Ryan Burke and Sean Greene celebrate last year's quarter final win.
Numerous Kildare Gaelic footballers will begin their Sigerson cup campaigns on Friday. The prestigious third level gaelic football competition kicked off on Tuesday, with Ulster University defeating ATU Sligo in Sligo. The other remaining first round fixtures take place tomorrow, Friday.
There are a total of 21 Kildare players involved in four different Sigerson Cup squads. Maynooth University has 15 players from Kildare in their squad and they kick off their campaign against TUS Midlands away in Athlone.
TUS Midlands won the Trench Cup in 2023 and are in their second consecutive season in the Sigerson Cup.
The Kildare University had a positive Sigerson Cup campaign in 2024, which saw them reach the semi-finals. Maynooth University dethroned 2023 champions, UCC, in round three of last year’s competition.
UCD have two Kildare men in their squad for this year’s competition, namely Callum Bolton and James McGrath. The 2018 Sigerson Cup champions will face UCC in Fethard on Friday. UCD are once again managed by former Kildare and Galway footballer, John Divilly. UCD are one of the favourites for this year’s competition, however will face a stern test against this season’s league champions.
TUD also have two kildare men in their squad, namely Jack Rodgers and Sean Hanafin, both from Naas. The Dublin college will face Maurice Sherdian’s University of Galway side. These sides met at the same stage of the competition in 2024, with TUD beating their Galway opponents.
Niall Dolan of Raheens is in the DCU squad for the 2025 Sigerson cup, and they will face MTU Kerry at home on Friday. The 2020 champions once again have a plethora of top inter-county players at their disposal and will be expected to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Tom Dockery of Eadestown is part of the ATU Donegal squad, and they will face MTU Cork in Abbotstown on Friday night. Maxi Curran’s side will go into game full of confidence and their tie against their Cork opponents is expected to be a tight affair.
Kildare Players in each Sigerson cup squad:
Tom Dockery - Eadestown
UCD Callum Bolton – Sarsfields
James McGrath - Athy
Jack Rodgers - Naas
Sean Hanafin - Naas
Fionn Talbot – Kilcock GAA
Ryan Burke – Caragh GFC
Conor Harris – Rathcoffey
James Harris - Castlemitchell
Rian Teahan - Rathangan
Rob Fitzgerald - Naas
Tom Donovan - Straffan
Oisin Grufferty - St Laurence's
Fionn Ó Giolláin - Maynooth
Neil Aherne - Naas, Kildare
Eoin Sheehan - Johnstownbridge
Paddy McDermott - Naas
Ben Fitzsimons - Eadestown
Mark Gibbons - Kilcock
Patrick Moore - Rathangan
Niall Dolan - Raheens.
St Mary’s v Queen’s University- 2pm, Davitt’s GAC
UCC v UCD- 5pm, Fethard Town Park, Tipperary
ATU Galway v University of Limerick- 5.30pm, Liam Mellows, Galway
DCU DÉ v MTU Kerry- 5pm, DCU DÉ
TU Dublin v University of Galway- 6.15pm, Grangegorman
ATU Donegal v MTU Cork- 7pm, NGDC Abbotstown
TUS Midlands v Maynooth University- 7.15pm, TUS Midlands
