FITZGIBBON CUP: Dublin IT 1-15 NUI Galway 1-15: FITZGIBBON CUP holders NUIG staged a remarkable rally to eke out a draw from this thrilling tussle at Mobhi Road.

Despite the first-half dismissal of Tipperary All-Ireland medal winner Séamus Hennessy, NUIG thundered into the contest in the third quarter.

At half-time DIT, who were purposeful early on, deservedly led by 1-9 to 0-7 as Liam Óg McGovern struck an opportunistic 20th-minute goal shortly after Hennessy had been harshly red-carded for a wild rather than mean pull on Liam Murphy.

NUIG though battled with real grit and determination as Joseph Cooney marshalled the defence superbly in the second period.

John Conlon, Ger Kelly and Barry Daly were all prominent as NUIG trimmed the deficit, but DIT still led by three in stoppage time.

By this stage Cooney had been moved to full forward and fittingly the promising youngster provided the clever goalscoring flick to rescue a draw for NUIG, who now hope that CIT can defeat DIT by more than a point when they meet in Tuesday’s final group game.

DIT:F McGarry; C O'Shaughnessy, J Walsh, O Walsh; P Schutte, T Brady (0-1), D English; P Hartley, M Maloney (0-1); E Murphy (0-2), M Murphy (0-3); H Kehoe (0-1); P Ryan (0-5, 0-2 frees, 0-1 65), L Óg McGovern (1-1), P Morris. Subs: P Phelan for Schutte (31 mins), P Kelly (0-1) for Morris (43 mins), P Donnelly for English (50 mins), J Mulrooney for O'Shaughnessy (56 mins).

NUIG:D Tuohy; D Nash, P Gordon, S McCormack; P Kelly, P Nihill, S Hennessy; B Daly (0-2), D O'Donovan (0-1); J Cooney (1-0), R Shanahan, J Conlon (0-3); G Kelly (0-2), N Burke (0-1), C Morey (0-6, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65). Subs: JP O'Connell for Shanahan (31 mins), M Keating for McCormack, J O'Gorman for Burke (60 mins).

Referee:G Duffy (Antrim).