Sean O'Shea delivered yet another impressive display as UCC overcame 14-man St Mary's by 0-16 to 1-9 in tonight's final at O'Moore Park.

Spectators which turned out at the Portlaoise venue to watch the most prestigious event in third-level gaelic football were treated to an entertaining contest.

But in the end, it was the Cork college who captured their third title (2011, 2014 previous wins) under the guidance of Billy Morgan and 22nd overall.

Kerry sensation O'Shea carried on his terrific scoring form by hitting seven points while fellow county men Padraig Clifford, Padraig Lucey and Graham O'Sullivan also stood out the winners.

The same four Kingdom players were responsible for all of UCC's first-half scores as they led by 0-9 to 1-3 at the interval.

UCC captain Cian Kiely lifts the Sigerson Cup. ©INPHO/James Crombie.

'The Ranch' goal came from a mistake in the UCC defence when Ryan Coleman's point effort dropped short and found its way to Mark White's net.

Buoyed by their victory over holders and favourites UCD last Saturday, 2017 champions St Mary's had to play the last quarter with 14-men after wing-forward Ryan Boyle received his marching orders from referee David Gough (yellow card, followed by a black).

The Armagh native was dismissed at a crucial juncture of the second-half when Gavin McGilly's charges looked like the team with all the momentum after they had cut the deficit to one-point having trailed by four at one stage.

A massive point from Shane McGuigan, who contributed 0-5 over the hour, brought the sides level on 48 minutes, but then UCC hit four in succession via O'Shea, Clifford and substitutes James Naughton and Garry Murphy to pull clear.

McGuigan added to his tally late on before another sub Conal O hAinifein rounded off the scoring for Morgan's men.

UCC - M White; M Flood, K Flahive, G O’Sullivan (0-2); D O’Brien, B O Beaglaoich, C Kiely (0-1); P Lucey (0-1), J Kennedy; P Clifford (0-2), S O’Shea (0-7, 5f), C Horgan; C Geaney, K Spillane, E Courtney. Subs: D Shaw for C Horgan, J Naughton (0-1) for E Courtney, E Finnerty for K Spillane, G Murphy (0-1) for C Geaney, C O hAinifein (0-1) for D O’Brien.

St Mary's - M Reid; M Rooney (0-1), C Dillon, L Rafferty; C Byrne, R McCusker (0-1), A Duffy; J Burns, L Devlin; S McConville (0-2f), R Coleman (1-0), A Boyle; N Toner, S McGuigan (0-5, 2f), C McKinney. Sub: D McKinless for C Byrne.

Referee - D Gough.

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