Fitzgibbon Cup Quarter Finals Preview

Mary I will continue their defence of the Fitzgibbon cup tomorrow as they welcome NUIG to the South Circular Road at 2pm.

The following day UL and LIT will look to reach the Fitzgibbon Cup weekend once more as they face IT Carlow and UCD respectively. Both Limerick squads have home advantage with UL throwing in at 1pm and LIT at 3pm. LIT and UL will be especially keen to advance and attempt to dethrone Mary I who defeated both last February.

Mary Immaculate College
Path to the ¼ Final:
Rd 1- Mary I 2-31 GMIT 0-16
Rd 2- IT Carlow 0-18 Mary I 0-18
Rd 3- DIT 1-08 Mary I 5-28.

County Representatives;
Richie English, Darragh O’Donovan, Cian Lynch, Aaron Gillane, Thomas Grimes (Limerick), Ronan Maher (Tipp), Colm Galvin (Clare), Luke Meade (Cork), Thomas Monaghan (Galway).

Preview:
Mary I will be confident of progressing to the Fitzgibbon cup weekend against an NUIG team who had a mixed bag of results in their three group games. They beat St Pats, drew with CIT and lost to UL. However, with Galway seniors Conor Whelan, Paraic and Cathal Mannion, alongside Clare’s Conor Cleary, NUIG will pose a threat to Mary I’s crown.

Mary I possess a number of players who have experience of winning this competition last year, namely, Richie English, Ronan Maher, Colm Galvin, Darragh O’Donovan and Cian Lynch. Along with those Mary I have talent all around the field who should have too much class and experience for NUIG.

Verdict:
Mary I to advance with a bit to spare.
Limerick Institute of Technology
Path to the ¼ Final;
Rd 1- LIT 4-21 Trinity College 0-07
Rd 2- LIT 2-12 DCU 0-15
Rd 3- LIT 5-14 WIT 3-13

County Representatives;
David Dempsey, Diarmaid Byrnes, Barry O’Connell, Jack Quaid (all Limerick), Shane Bennett (Waterford), Paul Killeen (Galway), David Reidy, Oisin O’Brien, Jamie Shanahan, Peter Duggan (all Clare)

Preview
Davy Fitz has LIT on fire in this years Fitzgibbon Cup as his team carry a 100% record heading into the quarter final. After a comprehensive win over a poor TCD team, LIT overcame two tough challenges in DCU and WIT with flying colours. With a county player on every line of the team, there does not seem to be any weak links in this years squad.

UCD will be ready for LIT however and had a decent group campaign. They were successful against Maynooth University and UUJ either side of a dour 3-point loss to fellow quarter finalists UCC. Managed by Nicky English and led by All-Stars, Cillian Buckley and Tadgh De Búrca, UCD are a real threat.

Verdict:
LIT to prove too strong for the Leinster College and progress handily.
University of Limerick
Path to the ¼ Final;
Rd 1- UL 2-23 CIT 0-16
Rd 2- UL 2-21 NUIG 2-12
Rd 3- UL 4-31 DCU St Pats 2-14

County Representatives;
David McCarthy, Mike Casey, Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty, Barry Nash, Lorcan Lyons, Pat Ryan, Ronan Lynch (all Limerick), Tony Kelly, Bobby Duggan, David Fitzgerald (all Clare), Jason Forde, John McGrath, Barry Heffernan (all Tipperary), Stephen Bennett (Waterford).

Preview;
With a plethora of established county players in their ranks and three highly impressive wins under their belt already, UL must be considered favourites to retain their Fitzgibbon cup crown they relinquished last year to Mary I. With a points differential of +45 from their three games UL have looked unstoppable with David Fitzgerald, Tony Kelly, Stephen Bennet and John McGrath leading their charge.

Under the tutelage of DJ Carey, IT Carlow will be quietly confident of upsetting the favourites this Wednesday in UL. They had an impressive group stage comfortably beating DIT and GMIT by 12 and 27 points respectively whilst drawing with last years kingpins Mary I. Kevin Kelly of Kilkenny, along with Charles Dwyer and Stephen Maher of Laois will be key if Carlow are to pick up the win.

Verdict:
UL to progress but not without a scare from the IT.