Mary Immaculate College finish top as DIT suffer 18-point defeat

DIT 0-5 Mary Immaculate College, Limerick 1-20

Eamonn Cregan's Mary Immaculate College hammered Dublin IT by 18 points to finish on top of Group C in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

Mary I’s efforts are rewarded with a home quarter-final against GMIT next week, with Limerick rivals and holders UL edged into second place.

Limerick’s Declan Hannon bagged nine points for Mary I, with Shannonside colleague and promising young midfielder Darragh O’Donovan adding five.

Mary I led by 0-10 to 0-3 at half-time and Darragh Corry’s 35th-minute goal put the end result beyond any doubt as the 2013 runners-up kept their hopes of glory alive.

DIT: P McKenna; S McClelland, T Doyle, C Robinson; S Barrett, L Chin, D Guinan; J Henderson, G Whelan; J Guiney (0-3,frees), C Sheehan (0-1), R Greville; D McNicholas (0-1, free), J Sweeney, AJ Murphy.

Subs: C O'Donoghue for McClelland (29 mins), B Kelly for McNicholas (50 mins).

MARY I: M O'Conghaile; E Quirke, R English, A Ryan; R Maher, T Stapleton, J Meagher; S Cahill (0-1), D O'Donovan (0-5, one free, one 65); C Galvin (0-1), N O'Meara, D Corry (1-2); D Reidy, D Hannon (0-9, six frees), C Lynch (0-2).

Subs: S Linnane for O'Meara (45 mins), A Flynn for Quirke (50 mins), M O'Neill for Reidy (52 mins).

Referee: M Murtagh (Westmeath).

University of Limerick 0-15 NUI Galway 0-16

UL suffered a one-point defeat but there was a biblical touch to the outcome when the last were first and the first were last with UL making the knock-out stages and NUIG failing to make it having needed to win by three or more points.

NUIG had a whopping nine points, all but one from frees, by Clare star Bobby Duggan whose side played with the the strong wind in the first half.

They led 0-4 to 0-1 inside seven minutes and went on to lead by 0-13 to 0-6 at half-time.

UL’s freetaker, Jack McGrath, also struck nine points and he got two from play to add to his seven frees.

UL whittled back the arrears and late points by McGrath and Limerick’s Kevin O’Brien made all the difference as NUIG ran out deserving winners but not by a sufficient margin to allow them to qualify.

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: P Maher (Tipperary); M Casey (Limerick), J Browne (Clare), S Roche (Galway); A McGuane (Clare), B Heffernan (Tipperary), B Stapleton (Tipperary); K Hehir (Clare) (0-1), D Fitzgerald (Clare) (0-1); J Forde (Tipperary) (0-1, free), T Morrissey (Limerick) (0-2), C Martin (Kilkenny); J McGrath (Tipperary) (0-9, seven frees), K O'Brien (Limerick) (0-1), T Heffernan (Tipperary).

Subs: P Ryan (Limerick) for McGuane (38 mins), C McInerney (Clare) for Heffernan (42 mins), B Maher (Tipperary) for Hehir (51 mins).

NUI GALWAY: C Tuohy (Galway); C Ryan (Tipperary), B Fitzpatrick (Clare), R Lane (Galway); S Cooney (Galway), J Hanbury (Galway), P Mannion (Galway) (0-2); N O'Brien (Westmeath) (0-2), O Donnellan (Clare) (0-1); B Duggan (Clare) (0-9, eight frees), K McHugo (Galway) (0-1), M Mullins (Galway); J Fox (Limerick), C Whelan (Galway), C Mannion (Galway) (0-1).

Subs: G Hennelly (Galway) for Fox (49 mins), S Hynes (Galway) for Lane (54 mins).

Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork).

UCC 1-14 LIT 2-15

UCC exited the Fitzgibbon Cup at the group stage for the second successive year as they succumbed to Limerick IT at the Mardyke.

Having lost to UCD in their opening game, the hosts needed to win by two points to have any hope of reaching the quarter-finals. However, though they hit the front when Alan Cadogan scored a 52nd-minute goal to put them 1-13 to 1-12 ahead, they were undone by another LIT surge.

Peter Duggan finished with 1-4 for Davy Fitzgerald’s side and it was his point which levelled before David Dempsey took advantage of David Reidy’s pass to fire to the net and put them back in front.

Barry Lawton had a UCC goal effort tipped over by Eibhear Quilligan, but it was the closest they came to salavaging something as Duggan and Alan Dempsey rounded off the win for LIT.

With the wind in the first half, UCC had led for long periods, Rob O’Shea converting frees while Cormac Murphy had two from distance.

While their shooting was far from perfect, LIT didn’t leave them out of their sight and were level by half-time at 0-7 each and Duggan’s goal put them ahead on the resumption. Cadogan’s goal looked to have swung things, but it was LIT’s day.

UCC: K Hogan; C Gleeson, M Breen, S Roche; R Cahalane, D Morrissey, G O'Brien; J Barron, C Murphy (0-2); T Devine (0-1), N McCarthy (0-1), R O'Shea (0-7, all frees); A Cadogan (1-0), S O'Donnell, J Power (0-1).

Subs: B Lawton (0-2) for Cahalane (39), DJ Foran for Devine (48, injured), E Finn for Power (58).

LIMERICK IT: E Quilligan; N O'Connor, K Bennett, O O'Brien; C Nolan, W Ryan, D Byrnes (0-3, all frees); J Campion, C Barrett (0-1); J Shanahan, M O'Malley (0-2), D Dempsey (1-2); N Maher, P Duggan (1-4, two frees), D Reidy (0-1, free).

Subs: A Dempsey (0-2) for Campion (36 mins), W Connors for Nolan (46 mins), S Gleeson for Maher (58 mins).

Referee: F Horgan (Tipperary).

GMIT 1-4 UUJ 0-4

A trawl of the record books is unlikely to find a lower scoring Fitzgibbon Cup match, but Darragh Burke’s goal finally gave GMIT the win and a spot in the quarter-finals.

The shocking wind, rain and cold spoiled the game, while the straight red cards shown to UUJ’s Jackson McGreevey and Johnny O’Dwyer meant they were always second favourites at the Connacht GAA Centre.

GMIT’s reward for the win is second place in Group D and a last eight clash with Group C winners Mary Immaculate in Limerick next week.

Nicky McKeague hit both UUJ points before half-time as scores from Burke and Conor Gardiner had the teams tied at 0-2 each at the interval.

McGreavy saw red for an off the ball incident in the 18th minute, and O’Dwyer joined him on the sidelines nine minutes from time after he made contact with Jarlath Mannion’s helmet.

But Burke’s goal in the 48th minute gave GMIT a deserved win and sees them continue in the competition for another week at least.

GMIT: J Barrett; D Cronin, I Creaven, J Finnerty; L Cosgrave, P Hoban, S Collins; D Burke (1-1, one free), D Conroy; B Tuohey (0-1), J Mooney, J Mannion; D Mangan (0-1), D Nevin, C Gardiner (0-1).

Subs: D Ward for Gardiner (40 mins), R Ellis for Cosgrave (51 mins), C Reilly for Hoban (67 mins), D Cooney for Finnerty (69 mins).

UUJ: C Heyden; S Rooney, R Brannigan, N Devlin; G Walsh, T Mannion, T O Ciaran; M Dudley, D McKernan; J McGreevey, S McAfee, A Kelly; J Connolly, A Dooley, N McKeague (0-4, three frees).

Subs: R Courtney for O Ciaran (23 mins), J O'Connell for McKernan (27 mins), J O'Dwyer for Dooley (h/t), A Curtin for McKeague (48 mins).

Referee: Kevin McGeeney (Roscommon).

IT Carlow 1-8 WIT 1-5

Hosts Carlow IT put in a storming second half to turn a half-time deficit of three points to win by the same margin to qualify for a home quarter-final in the competition.

The bitterly cold conditions,complkete with wind and rain, accounted for the low scoring but both teams deserve commendation for a keenly contested tie between the group’s two previously unbeaten sides.

Waterford had slightly the better of the opening half, with a 24th-minute goal from right half forward Owen McGrath’s putting them 1-3 to 0-3 in front, after Ciarán O’Brien was provider in selling a dummy to a Carlow defender. It proved to be WIT’s only score from play as they led 1-4 to 0-4 at the interval.

In the 39th minute Carlow hit the front when James Doyle scored a close-range goal to edge his side 1-5 to 1-4 ahead. From there on Carlow drove for victory, improving on their first-half showing. Laois county senior player Stephen Maher top-scoring with 0-6, 0-5 from frees. Austin Gleeson’s injury time point was WIT’s only score of the second half.

IT CARLOW: E Rowland (0-1, free); D Palmer, K Hannafin, R Brown; D Healy, W Young, M Harney; C Dunford, M Russell; C Dwyer, K Kelly (0-1), S Maher (0-6, five frees); J Doyle (1-0), J Fagan, C Bolger. Sub: O Dempsey for Maher (58 mins);

WIT: M Fanning; W Hahessy G Teehan, J Maher; T Fox (0-2, frees), S McNulty, F McGrath; J Langton, S Roche (0-1, free); O McGrath (1-0), A Gleeson (0-2, frees), J Hayes; S Ryan, M Lynch, C O'Brien.

Subs: F Butler for Roche (38 mins); J Doyle for Ryan (50 mins); J Henderson for McGrath (52 mins).

Referee: B Gavin (Offaly).

UCD 1-13 Maynooth University 0-10

Nicky English’s UCD stuttered into the quarter-finals with a six-point victory over Maynooth University.

UCD looked complacent as they knew they only had to avoid defeat following Limerick IT’s victory over UCC earlier in the day.

But Paul Winters-inspired Maynooth cut the gap back to just three points in the second half – and had an icy breeze at their backs in Belfield.

Ciaran Prendergast’s first-half goal would prove crucial for UCD, however, as they did enough to seal a quarter-final clash away to IT Carlow.

UCD: D Holohan; P Hannon, S Murphy, C O'Shea; J Madden, C O'Callaghan, C MacGabhann; S Moran (0-1, free), J Maher (0-4); P Guinan (0-2), J O'Connor (0-1), E Conroy (0-1); R King, O O'Rorke (0-4, all frees), C Prendergast (1-0).

Subs: T O'Leary for Prendergast (38 mins), H Lawlor for Conroy (43 mins), C Keane for King (52 mins), C Devitt for Moran (58 mins).

MAYNOOTH: R Fitzgerald; C Breen, E McLoughlin, M Campion; D Hennessy, P Deegan, T Stafford; K Sheridan, R Donohoe; D Burke (0-1), P Winters (0-8, six frees), B Molloy; E Kenny, A Gleeson, N Kenny (0-1).

Sub: D Sweeney for Molloy (18 mins).

DCU 2-17 St-Pat’s-Mater Dei 1-20

A last-gasp Danny Sutcliffe free secured a share of the spoils in this Fitzgibbon Cup Group B dead-rubber tie at DCU on Tuesday night.

Waterford’s Paddy Curran fired five first-half points, as St Pat’s led by 0-11 to 0-9 at the break, with Sutcliffe, Gary Howard and Cathal Curran keeping DCU in touch.

DCU moved seven points clear inside three minutes of the restart, scoring 2-3 without reply including goals from Howard and Peter Hogan.

Pat’s never gave up with Curran and Jack McGrath firing points, while a 58th-minute Christy Breathnach goal levelled matters.

A 10th point from Curran put Pats ahead late on, before Sutcliffe’s late equaliser.

DCU: D Renehan; J Tyrell, T French, P O'Dea; M Daly, K Fitzgerald, M Heaney (0-1); D Barden; C Curran (0-2); G Howard (1-2), D Sutcliffe (0-3, two frees), D Staunton (0-1); P Hogan (1-3); C Joyce (0-3, two frees), N O'Connor.

Subs: S Gray (0-2) for Hogan (26 mins); E McHugh for Daly (47 mins); P Lynam for Howard (57 mins).

ST PATS/MATER DEI: P Simms; D Egan, C Shaw, K Treacy; B Hanlon, R Fitzpatrick, J McGrath (0-2, one free); N Mullins, J de Barun (0-1); W Murphy (0-1), M Collins (0-1), E Price (0-1); J Bruton (0-1), P Curran (0-10, five frees), T Devlin (0-3).

Subs: F Ó Cuirrin for Bruton (40 mins); C Breatnach (1-0) for Murphy (52 mins).

Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath)

QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Mary I v GMIT
LIT v WIT
Cork IT v UL
IT Carlow v UCD
Ties to be played on Tuesday, February 16th