A sold-out Aviva Stadium hosted an exciting opening sport as this 12 months’s NCAA Faculty championship season acquired beneath manner in Dublin. An Atlantic Coast Convention match between Georgia Tech and Florida State noticed the Tenth-ranked Seminoles crushed 24-21 by Aidan Birr’s last-second discipline purpose.
The sport was a impartial venue for all however one of many gamers concerned. It’s not typically {that a} punter is the centre of consideration within the match build-up however in David Shanahan, Georgia Tech have a historical past maker.
Three years in the past Shanahan, from Castleisland in County Kerry, grew to become the primary Irishman ever to earn a full scholarship to play faculty soccer.
Now in his senior 12 months, the cheers for Shanahan’s punts from the close to 50,000 crowd had been among the many very loudest of the evening.
There have been additionally excellent particular groups performances within the sport from FSU kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, who impressed with two long-range discipline objectives, however it was Georgia Tech’s Birr, who held his nerve to ship the game-winner – with Shanahan enjoying an important supporting function as his holder.
Shanahan stated it was an “unreal feeling” to win again on Irish soil, particularly on condition that it was his personal particular groups unit delivering the upset victory.
“It’s simply unbelievable option to win,” he stated.
“For this man, Aidan, it took a hell of a number of bottle however I had full confidence in him, actually.
“I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen him miss two kicks in-a-row. All of it actually went right down to the final play – an unreal feeling.”