Impressive Limerick shaping up well

FITZGIBBON CUP: University of Limerick 4-18 Dublin City University 0-8:A UNIVERSITY of Limerick team heavily sprinkled with some of the most recognisable names in inter-county hurling demolished DCU without too much fuss in yesterday's Fitzgibbon Cup round-robin match.

The Dubliners put up a decent enough show in the first half when they were aided by a gusting wind, but they were blown away in the second period as UL held them scoreless and went to town at the other end of the field.

The weather conditions were always going to militate against free-flowing hurling and UL really struggled to get into any sort of rhythm in the first half, but goals from Tipp duo Kieran Morris and Joe Gallagher still helped them into a 2-4 to 0-8 half-time lead.

The teams were greeted at the start of the second half by a driving, icy rain but UL made light of the conditions to produce some sparkling hurling.

Offaly’s Joe Dooley and Cork’s Pa Cronin were prominent as they ran at the DCU defence and picked off great scores and at the other end of the field Waterford’s Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh repelled any sporadic DCU attacks.

Two more goals from impressive substitute Tom Connors and Dooley added some more gloss to the final score, and by the finish UL’s winning margin of 22 points was a fair reflection of the gulf in class between the two teams.

Coming on the back of a hard-fought victory over UCC last week, yesterday’s comfortable win underlines the fact that this star-studded UL team have a great chance of winning their first Fitzgibbon Cup since 2003.

“It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had such a strong panel,” said UL Manager Ger Cunningham after the game. “The lads are working very hard and we’re combining well as a team.”

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK:T Lowry; M Malone, M Walsh, S Hickey; P Stapleton, B Bugler, K Joyce; D Burke (0-1), J Gallagher (1-0); P Cronin (0-4), B Beckett (0-2), S Dooley (1-6, 0-3 frees); K Morris (1-1, 0-1 free), P Kelly (0-1), A Quinn (0-1). Subs: T Connors (1-2) for J Gallagher (43 mins); M Heffernan for K Morris (46 mins); PJ Delaney for K Joyce (48 mins), N Murphy for D Burke (50 mins), D Lynch for M Malone (55 mins).

DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY:B McCormack; S Kelly, A Moran, W Eviston; A Griffith, B Flaherty, W O'Brien; P McAllister (0-1), JJ Lennon (0-1); E McCabe, A Crane, E O'Mahony (0-1); D Horan (0-1), E Kent (0-4, 0-3 frees), C Foley.

Referee:R Matthews (Antrim).