UCD have booked their place in the Fitzgibbon quarter finals.
JJ Doyle’s charges underwhelmed in this year’s League campaign, but they’ve hit form at just the right time as the Fitzgibbon Cup reaches its business stages.
Tonight, the south Dublin outfit comfortably dispatched of Cork IT on home turf in Belfield. That ensures their progress to the last 8 of this competition, and they really are a force to be reckoned with now.
Tadhg De Búrca and Padraic Guinan were dominant in the half back line for the well supported hurlers of UCD. They mopped up everything and anything that came near the half back line and their distribution was always pinpoint.
A man often on the end of his drilled clearances was Waterford man DJ Foran. The left handed wing forward took the CIT back line apart with his clever movement and he took every chance that cames his way from placed balls.
Fitzgibbon Cup: UCD 0-05 v @corkitgaa 0-03. 15 Minutes @HigherEdGAA #fitz18 pic.twitter.com/XRzKPbev9n
— UCD GAA Club (@UCDGAA) January 30, 2018
He had 1-9 to his name by full and had left many a CIT defender trailing in his destructive wake.
Mossy O’Connor’s goal on the stroke of half-time brought the Cork side into the game, and they were only down by one at half-time.
UCD weren’t long asserting their class, and Foran’s second half goal made sure of that. Four points was the final margin of victory.
It's all over here in @ucddublin in the @HigherEdGAA @ElectricIreland Fitzgibbon cup and the hosts full value of the win on a scoreline of @corkitgaa 1:13 @UCDGAA 1:17. @CIT_ie bow out and ucd progress to 1/4 finals as group https://t.co/ggHPLCOFbp of luck @UCDGAA in rest of Fitz
— MTU Cork Campus Student GAA Club (@MTUCork_GAA) January 30, 2018
For CIT, Waterford duo Conor Prunty and Michael Kearney fared well.
This was all about UCD, however, and they’ll march onto the quarter finals with confidence no matter who their opponents are. With James Maher covering every blade of grass alongside the wristy John Joe Ryan in midfield, they’ve an engine room as good as any team in the competition.
In Stephen Quirke and Seamus Flanagan, they’ve a brilliant half forward line. In UCD, they have a Fitzgibbon team who are in with a shout.
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