Dominant DCU sweep aside IT Carlow to secure fifth Sigerson Cup crown

Playing their fourth game in a row on home soil, Paddy Christie's tournament hosts comfortably took care of first-time finalists IT Carlow.

They led by three points at half-time and pressed home their advantage with a commanding and controlled second-half display that held Pat Critchley's underdogs scoreless from play.

Dublin attacker Small helped turn the screw on IT Carlow with two second-half scores from play in breezy conditions while club and county colleague Evan Comerford drilled three frees on the evening.

Monaghan's Garland finished with 0-4, bringing his tournament takings to 1-14 following previous wins over UCD, Queens and Garda College.

A strong breeze gusting across the pitch and marginally favouring DCU in the first-half made life difficult for both sets of players.

DCU enjoyed more of the possession but, just like their semi-final against UCD they came up against a well drilled counter-attacking outfit.

The underdogs were content to soak up whatever DCU could throw at them and then attempt to hit them on the break.

It was a strategy that yielded just two points for IT Carlow in the whole of the first-half and just one of those, from Laois attacker Evan Lowry, was from play. That turned out to be their only point from play in the entire game.

But the approach ensured that chances were at a premium for DCU and the hosts didn't make the most of their early opportunities, ensuring a low scoring encounter until the second-half when they cut loose.

Thomas E Donohoe was through on goal for DCU in the 13th minute, when they led 0-2 to 0-0, but couldn't hit the net to put real daylight between them.

Bannigan and then played in Garland in the 19th minute but he was unable to convert for DCU either.

Their first score from play came in the 17th minute when Shane Carthy, another strong performer for DCU, split the posts.

DCU took a 0-5 to 0-2 lead into the interval and looked the fitter and more determined side in the second-half, holding IT Carlow scoreless from play with Offaly's Cian Farrell registering all of their points from frees.

Small kicked two eye-catching points for DCU while Dublin goalkeeper Comerford took his tally to 0-3 for the evening midway through the second-half with his third converted long-range free.

Small was on target again late on and another Dublin forward, Sean Bugler, rounded off the scoring with a fisted effort late on.

Scorers - DCU: D Garland 0-4 (0-1f), E Comerford (0-3f), M Bannigan (0-2f) 0-3, P Small 0-2, S Carthy, S Bugler 0-1.

IT Carlow: C Farrell 0-6 (0-6f), E Lowry 0-1.

DCU: E Comerford; D Corcoran, B McCole, C Morrison; K Flynn, J Morrissey, D Monaghan; S McMahon, S Carthy; B Stack, M Bannigan, S Bugler; TE Donohoe P Small, D Garland. Subs: T Fox for Donohoe (38), S Smith for Stack (52), M Curran for Morrison (54), K Dwyer for Corcoran (60), N Gavigan for McMahon (60).

IT Carlow: K Roche; R Hitchcock, R Ryan, J Moore; C Walsh, T Collins, C Doyle; N Hughes S Ryan; A Steed, C Byrne, P O'Toole; C Farrell, J Walsh, E Lowry. Subs: G Murphy for J Walsh (38), S Crowley for C Walsh (48), T Griffin for Steed (50).

Ref: D O'Mahoney (Tipperary).