This afternoon's semi-finals of the Datapac Fitzgibbon Cup take place at the Mardyke in Cork, where hosts UCC join a very traditional-looking weekend with the competition's three original participants joined by Waterford IT, which means that the top four colleges on the roll of honour are all contesting this year's title.
First up this afternoon is UCC v UCD at 12.30pm. The Cork side had a helter-skelter win over holders Limerick IT, who were missing a few players - most notably Tipperary's Eoin Kelly - in their semi-final, taking the match by two late points.
They have a strong Kilkenny influence running through the team, even with the graduation of Tommy Walsh. John Tennyson and Donncha Cody are in the full back line, with Michael Rice and Cha Fitzpatrick in the forwards. Cork's All-Ireland winning centrefielder Tom Kenny is also there, as is another Cork senior, Ronan Conway, who gave a feisty account of himself for Cork against Waterford in last week's league match, in attack.
UCD are an experienced outfit on a number of fronts, and their own Kilkenny man, Bryan Barry, was in good form in the semi-final demolition of UL, knocking over nine points. They are missing the injured Tipp panellist Pa Morrissey, and his fellow county men Paul Ormonde and Diarmaid Fitzgerald are also carrying injuries. However, there is still plenty of quality, including Offaly captain Brendan Murphy on the wing and Portumna's Andy Smith in the corner.
UCC have two advantages, with home venue and that very searching last round tie against LIT, and these could be the differences in what promises to be a close encounter of the third-level kind.
In the eyes of some, the favourites for this year's title will be the winners of the second semi-final, NUI Galway v Waterford IT at 2.30pm. WIT are looking for a third title in four years, whereas NUIG are building on an excellent recent freshers' team.
Waterford overwhelmed Cork IT in their semi-final and have produced another strong side featuring the experience of former winners such as Hugh Moloney, Keith Rossiter and Waterford's Michael Walsh. Rory Jacob was in shooting form and overall the team looked formidable down the centre.
NUIG had to scramble a bit in their quarter-final against DIT. Their side is managed by former Galway manager Matt Murphy and has some quality up front. David Kenny and Tipperary's Darragh Egan took 2-7 out of a 3-10 total from the full forward line and underwrote the team's comeback.
For all the potential of their opponents, Waterford deserve to be rated favourites. Their combination of new and experienced performers looks to have the right blend of know-how and eagerness.
