The Limerick college finish with a 100% record in Group A
MARY I 0-15 UL 0-23
University of Limerick put on a fine display of hurling on Wednesday afternoon as they dispatched reigning Fitzgibbon Champions Mary Immaculate College 0-23 to 0-15 in Round three of the Fitzgibbon Cup.
Patrick Crotty, Jack Leahy, and Gearoid O’Connor were the key talisman for last year’s beaten finalists, combining for 0-14 and showing excellent use of the ball throughout the 60 minutes.
Brian Ryan’s men showed great efficiency as they finished up with 0-20 from play whilst limiting their opponents to just 0-7 from play.
With both sides having already secured two wins in Group A, it was just a matter of who got the semi-final spot and who had to go through the quarter-final route. This meant both sides had a chance to rotate their squads due to county commitments as well as injuries.
Young Hurler of the Year Adam Hogan, Shane Meehan, and Shane O’Brien were left out by Mary I, whilst UL togged out without Limerick stars Adam English, Cathal O’Neill, and Offaly’s Adam Screeney.
Mary I only led once in the whole game after the opening minute thanks to Cian Scully, but things got tough for Jamie Wall’s team as UL hit back with the next four points through Patrick Crotty, Sean Rynne, and Gearoid O’Connor.
Cork’s Jack Leahy continued his good form in this season’s championship with three points in the space of 10 minutes, alongside Sean O’Hanlon and Patrick Crotty contributing further points to leave UL in a great position coming up to half time.
UL assured their dominance with four points in the space of 4 minutes as Tipperary starlet Gearoid O’Connor sending over some impressive points along with Clare’s Patrick Crotty who was scoring from both sides of the wing.
Brian O’Sullivan added another before half time, as well as having an effort at goal stopped by Darragh Conway to leave UL 0-14 to 0-6 ahead at the break.
UL grew further ahead thanks to Leahy and Mark Fitzgerald extending their lead and leaving Mary I with a lot to do in order to overturn this result, but Mary I were guilty of hitting poor wides of their own from play and placed balls. In total, Mary I had four different free takers throughout the game, and this will be something they’ll have to fix ahead of the quarter-final.
Ronan O’Connor and Oisin O’Farrell did their level best to try and reduce the gap, but UL never looked like losing and tagged on further late points through Diarmuid Hanniffy, Patrick Crotty, and Sean O’Hanlon to all but seal victory and give UL a platform to build on as they aim to claim a third Fitzgibbon success in four seasons.
Scorers: Mary I: Cian Scully 0-5 (0-4 f), Oisin O’Farrell 0-4 (0-2 f), Ronan O’Connor 0-2, Declan McLaughlin, Diarmuid Cahill (0-1 f), Ronan Power and Darragh Conway (0-1 f) 0-1 each.
UL: Gearoid O’Connor 0-6 (0-3 f), Jack Leahy and Patrick Crotty 0-4 each, Sean O’Hanlon 0-3, Diarmuid Hanniffy 0-2, Mark Fitzgerald, Sean Rynne, Brian O’Sullivan and Colm O’Meara 0-1 each
Teams:
Mary I: Darragh Conway (Lixnaw, Kerry); William Dore (Dromin-Athlacca, Limerick), Eoin Lawless (Athenry, Galway), Vince Harrington (Na Piarsaigh, Limerick); Cian Scully (Dromin-Athlacca, Limerick), Jimmy Quilty (Blackrock, Limerick); Ronan Power (Ballygunner, Waterford); Ronan O’Connor (Feakle, Clare), Conor Hennessy (Nenagh Eire Og, Tipperary); Eoin Craddock (Holycross-Ballycahill, Tipperary), Patrick Finn (Bruff), Jamie Ryan (O’Loughlin Gaels, Kilkenny); Oisin O’Farrell (ABK Desmonds, Limerick), Declan McLaughlin (Portumna, Galway), Diarmuid Cahill (Corofin, Clare)
Subs: Dara Whelan (Galway) for Finn (HT), Jack Daly (Limerick) for Craddock (48), Matthew Rosengrave (Galway) for Hennessy (54).
UL: Darach Fahy (Ardrahan, Galway); Evan O’Leary (Ahane, Limerick), , John Conneally (Clooney Quin, Clare); Ciarmhac Smyth (Midleton, Cork); Killian Doyle (Emeralds, Kilkenny), Mark Fitzgerald (Passage East, Waterford); Michael Corcoran (Silvermines, Tipperary); Brian O’Sullivan (Kanturk, Cork), Sean Rynne (Inagh-Kilnamona, Clare); Gearóid O’Connor (Moyne Templetuohy, Tipperary), Colm O’Meara (Clonlara, Clare), Patrick Crotty (Scariff, Clare); Jack Leahy (Dungourney, Cork), Sean O’Hanlon (Turloughmore, Galway), Diarmuid Hanniffy (Oranmore Maree, Galway)
Subs: Aaron Morgan (Tipperary) for Smyth (HT inj), Conor Hanley Clarke (Limerick) for Corcoran (39) Sam Williams (Limerick) for Fitzgerald (51-57 temp), Colin Coughlan (Limerick) for Fitzgerald, Keelan Hartigan (Clare) for O’Connor (both 57).
Referee: Eamonn Stapleton (Limerick)