Cathal McInerney
There's a full programme of games taking place on Tuesday in the Fitzgibbon Cup, with the final round group games set to decide the eight quarter-finalists.
Tuesday, February 9
Fitzgibbon Cup Group A
UCC v Limerick IT, Mardyke, 2.30pm
Two wins from two leave Limerick IT sitting pretty in Group A, although the Shannonsiders are not yet qualified as defeat to UCC, combined with a big win for UCD over Maynooth University, would leave them in some degree of peril.
Nonetheless, Davy Fitzgerald's side have looked slick so far. Having romped past Maynooth in the first game, LIT won a humdinger of a game last week against UCD, with David Reidy and Diarmuid Byrnes contributing 0-12 between them in a thrilling 0-18 to 1-14 win.
This is a big game for UCC. With UCD hot favourites to defeat Maynooth, UCC may need a convincing win (three-point win or more) to advance. UCC undoubtedly have quite a stellar squad. Jamie Barron (Waterford), Rob O’Shea (Cork), Tom Devine (Waterford), John Power (Kilkenny), Alan Cadogan (Cork), DJ Foran (Waterford) and Shane O’Donnell (Clare) all excelled the last day, and a group as talented as that are well capable of getting College the result they need in the Mardyke.
UCD v Maynooth University, Belfield, 7pm
If UCD defeat Maynooth University by 14 points or more at Belfield, they will advance to the quarter-finals regardless of the result in the other group game in Cork. Given that Maynooth's average losing margin in their past five Fitzgibbon Cup matches is 31 points, UCD have reasons to be confident.
However, they also need to be wary. Maynooth have come on considerably since the dark days of 2015 when they lost by 45 and 49 points to IT Carlow and WIT in consecutive games. Although still a way short of competing at this level, the Maynooth hurlers are increasingly committed and have gradually been cutting their losing margins.
With the likes of Cian O'Callaghan, Colm Cronin, Oisín O'Rourke (all Dublin), David Breen (Limerick) and Ross King (Laois) in their side, UCD are capable of hitting a target, but they must guard against complacency this afternoon.
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Fitzgibbon Cup Group B
DCU v St Patrick's-Mater Dei, DCU, 7pm
Group B is the only one of the four groups where the two quarter-finalists are already known, WIT and IT Carlow having booked their places last week. Therefore, the Dublin derby between DCU and St Patrick's-Mater Dei is all about pride.
Having both lost by almost identical margins in the first two games to WIT and IT Carlow, there should be hardly anything between these two. Both sides have real talent at their disposal; Dublin duo Cian Boland and Danny Sutcliffe for DCU, Ciarán Kilkenny and Patrick Curran, former Waterford minor hero, key for the teacher training outfit.
IT Carlow v WIT, IT Carlow, 7pm
IT Carlow and WIT are both already qualified for the last eight, and their meeting on the IT Carlow campus this evening will decide who tops the group. Whether or not topping the group leads to a more favourable draw in the last eight or not remains to be seen.
IT Carlow, managed by DJ Carey, have made real progress at Fitzgibbon Cup level in recent years. Their leading lights are Stephen Maher, Cha Dwyer (both Laois), Colin Dunford (Waterford), Chris Bolger, Kevin Kelly (both Kilkenny) and Jack Fagan (Meath).
WIT, the 2014 champions, have Austin Gleeson (Waterford) and Liam McGrath (Tipperary) to call upon, and while the Carriganore side are not quite as starry as they have been in recent years, they looked slick and accomplished in their wins over St Pat's-Mater Dei (1-19 to 0-9) and DCU (2-22 to 1-12)
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Eamonn Cregan
Fitzgibbon Cup Group C
DIT v Mary I, Parnells GAA Club, Coolock, 2pm
Theoretically, DIT could still qualify for the last eight (they would need a monumental winning margin here combined with a heavy defeat for NUI Galway), but a more realistic target than that fantastical outcome is to torpedo Mary I's ambitions of advancement.
If they deny Mary I victory, that might be enough to do just that, with UL on four points and NUI Galway and Mary I on two points in what is by far the tightest group going into the final round of fixtures. DIT, with the likes of Lee Chin, Jack Guiney (both Wexford), Robbie Greville and Derek McNicholas (both Westmeath) in their ranks have some excellent hurlers and they are well capable of disrupting Mary I.
The Limerick teacher-training college have Declan Hannon, Cian Lynch and David Reidy (all Limerick) to call upon, while Ronan Maher (Tipperary) and Colm Galvin (Clare) are also important figures. They enjoyed an impressive win over NUI Galway in their opener (1-16 to 0-13) but the seven-point loss to Shannonside rivals UL in a thriller last week has left them in a sticky spot this week. They missed out on finals weekend in their home city last year, and would obviously like to make up for that this year.
*UL v NUI Galway, St Patricks GAA, Rhebogue, 2pm Note change of venue
With Mary I still in the hunt for qualification (see above), there is plenty at stake in this west coast affair. With two wins from two over DIT and Mary I respectively, reigning champions UL are well placed to advance to the quarter-finals again. However, a heavy defeat combined with a big win for Mary I would leave them in jeopardy of missing out, so they need to avoid complacency in a match that has been switched from UL to Rhebogue.
Still, with Bill Maher, Brian Stapleton, Jason Forde and John McGrath (all Tipperary) and Clare trio Gearóid Ryan, Ian Galvin and Jack Browne within their armoury, it's not hard to see why UL are favourites with the bookmakers to retain the trophy. That said, they will miss starman Tony Kelly, ruled out of the remainder of the competition with an ankle injury.
NUI Galway made up for their opening round loss to Mary I with a convincing 3-18 to 2-7 win over DIT last week. With Bobby Duggan (Clare), Niall O'Brien (Westmeath) and Galway senior quartet John Hanbury, Cathal Mannion, Padraic Mannion and Conor Whelan available to them, and all impressing last week, they are more than capable of getting the result they need against UL to advance. If they win by three points or more this afternoon, they will advance to the last eight, regardless of what happens in Coolock.
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Fitzgibbon Cup Group D
*GMIT v Ulster University, Jordanstown, Connacht GAA Centre, 2.30pm Note change of venue
Group D is the only three team group in the competition, and with CIT already qualified after two wins from two, the mathematics are simple here - the winner advances to the last eight. In the event of a draw, UUJ advance on the strength of their superior scoring difference.
The force would appear to be with UUJ here. Despite being widely written off, the Jordanstown students put up an almighty challenge to CIT last week and lost by just three points (1-17 to 0-17) in a thrilling encounter). Considering that GMIT lost 3-22 to 0-7 to the same opponents a week earlier, UUJ would appear to be the better placed to reach the last eight.
UUJ are stacked with talented Antrim hurlers - Nicky McKeague, Stephen McAfee and Jackson McGreevey to name just three of a very large grouping - while Galway native Tomás Mannion and Corkman Andrew Curtin bring something different to a group that are well capable of rattling a few more cages before the 2016 Fitzgibbon Cup is over.
This match has been switched from Carnmore to the Connacht GAA Centre.
