A HOWLING wind harnessed with considerable aplomb by Tralee RTC blew holders UCD out of this year's Sigerson Cup in yesterday's quarter-final at Belfield. There will now definitely be an RTC in this year's final, as Tralee face Sligo in the semi-final next month.
Anyone who'd seen the teams in the first round would have been less surprised by the result than the emphatic nature of the scoreline. Tralee won the toss and chose to face the wind during the first half.
This echoed their decision in the previous round against Queen's and, according to Seamus Moynihan, again their power source and spiritual leader, the match followed similar lines. This meant an accomplished holding operation in the first half followed by a more skilful exploitation of the wind than UCD had managed.
The wind was such an anarchic presence that it's questionable to what extent it bestowed an advantage on the teams playing with it, but Tralee's handling of the situation was far superior.
What had saved the holders in their previous match against UCG - and characterised their best performances over the last two years - was the capacity to raise their game for a sharp but telling burst. This didn't happen yesterday. The team's principals, Trevor Giles and Ciaran McManus, never exerted the control that would have given UCD a foothold in the match.
Their game plan wasn't best suited by the conditions. With lively wing and corner players, they were always going to suffer disproportionately when the wind militated against quick, low ball into their attack. Tralee, on the other hand, strong and sharp in the middle were, quicker to the ball, with Moynihan supreme and William Kirby also adept at fetching or snaffling ball.
At the back, Tralee were well served by a tight, attentive defence, and if UCD full forward Maurice Horan consistently beat Barry O'Shea in the initial stages, his mysterious substitution in the 26th minute solved that niggling problem for the Kerry college.
UCD's problems weren't helped by the failure of some central tactics. Giles was quickly moved from centre back to centre forward. Selector Seamus Rogers made the reasonable point that Giles was seeing no ball on his own 40 and that Moynihan needed marking.
In the event, however, the defence suffered in Giles's absence and Moynihan's dynamic performance was little hindered.
For Tralee, Padraig Joyce's kicking was assured and clinical. Although he sent three deadball kicks wide in the second half, in general he judged the wind shrewdly.
Level at three points each at the interval, Tralee started the second half well, but by the end of the third quarter the holders were hanging on a point adrift; then a devastating spell unhinged them between the 51st and 54th minutes.
First Joyce pushed Tralee 0-7 to 0-5 ahead, and within 60 seconds Moynihan had doubled the advantage. Then a dropping ball from wing back Eamonn Ferris was disastrously fumbled by the UCD defence and Mark O'Reilly pounced to score the only goal.
