St Mary’s University College will play in their first ever All-Ireland Freshers’ Final after a hard-earned 3-8 to 1-11 win over University College Dublin (UCD) yesterday.

The Belfast side led by six points at one stage in the second half but had to fight off a late response from UCD to reach the decider, where they will face whoever comes out of the other semi-final between Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and the winners of the re-fixtured University of Ulster at Jordanstown (UUJ) and Sligo IT quarter-final.

Mayobridge’s Corey Quinn netted twice for St Mary’s, with Aidan Nugent raising the other green flag for the winners. Quinn’s second goal put St Mary’s six ahead midway through the second half, but UCD responded with a goal of their own and brought it back to a two-point game at Abbey Grammar School in Newry. Kieran McGeary slotted over to put three in it again, and Paddy Tally’s team resisted everything UCD could throw at them in the final five minutes to win.