The Dublin college has knocked off heavily favoured sides in Mary I and UCC on their way to this years final
The Connacht Centre of Excellence is the venue for the 2025 Fitzgibbon Cup final today with UL facing DCU in a David vs Goliath style matchup (2.45 pm throw-in, live on TG4).
UL are heavy favourites to lift their third Fitzgibbon Cup in four years while DCU contest just their second-ever final in the competition.
It’s difficult for anyone to argue with that favourite tag. What else can you say about a team that has won their four games by an average margin of thirteen points? A team that boasts county hurlers and star names throughout every line. Players who have been there and done it before.
On the other side is a DCU team that has grown accustomed to playing the underdog role in this year’s competition. Undoubtedly one of the biggest strengths of the team is their chemistry.
The formidable Paddy Langton is at full-back. He plays alongside another Kilkenny man Padraig Lennon and behind fellow cats and star performers Padraic Moylan and Billy Reid. Also in the half-back line is Offaly’s Sam Bourke. No strangers to him are fellow countymen Collin Spain and Donal Shirley in midfield.
They came through their group under the radar, drawing with TUS Midwest before seeing off Maynooth in a five-point win to advance. As a result, you could’ve been forgiven for expecting defending champions Mary I to beat them with ease and advance to the semi-finals.
What transpired was an ambush as an awesome display saw Shirley and forward Joe Flanagan combine for nine points in an impressive two-point win. They were again billed as underdogs in the semi-final against UCC before turning in another impressive display to reach the final.
It feels like they had consistency and togetherness over opponents who’s squads had been disrupted for large parts of the championship. But will this matter against UL?
The Limerick college is looking to make amends after losing last year’s final and cruised into the final by beating 13-man MTU Cork by 21 points. While that proved that they are fallible, this year’s squad has shown no signs of weakness ahead of the decider.
At the back, Mark Fitzgerald will anchor the defence while Colin Coughlan will provide a long-range scoring threat that DCU will have to manage. Scorers in chief for the side have been fourth-year Tipperary star Gearóid O’Connor and Cork’s Jack Leahy. Both look certain to finish as the competition top scorer and top scorer from play respectively.
Coughlan isn’t the only Limerick county star that will prove a handful – Adam English, Aidan O’Connor, and Patrick O’Donovan are also in fine form while Clare has strong representation through Colm O’Meara, Patrick Crotty, John Conneally, and Sean Rynne.
Like previous UL teams, we’ll likely look back and point out the county stars and all-stars littered throughout the squad. The only question for now is whether they’ll be remembered as 2025 Fitzgibbon Cup champions.