A DAY after Mary Immaculate College made history by reaching their first ever Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final, fellow Limerick colleges UL and LIT were unsuccessful in their attempts to join them in the last four.
2011 winners UL went down 1-16 to 0-17 against UCD while Davy Fitzgerald’s LIT were beaten 0-21 to 1-14 by WIT.
UL got off to a flying start in Belfield, roaring into a 0-5 to 0-1 within 10 minutes, but a UCD goal enabled the home side to reel them in before a late first half flurry left Ger Cunningham’s men 0-13 to 1-7 ahead at the interval.
UCD made a strong start to the second half, though, and pulled level again shortly after half-time. The teams were closely matched throughout the second 30 minutes but it was UCD who prevailed by two points in the end.
LIT were left to rue being slow out of the blocks in Carriganore, with WIT opening up a 0-10 to 0-2 lead by the 20-minute mark. LIT did manage to grab a goal through Jamie Fitzgibbon before the break and only trailed by 0-12 to 1-6 at half-time.
There wasn’t much to choose between the teams in the second half but the home side’s flurry of early points left LIT with too much to do as WIT claimed a four-point victory.
The semi-final line-up is now complete after today’s action. Four different cities will be represented as Mary Immaculate College face 2008 champions WIT and holders UCC take on UCD. The semi-finals will be played in GMIT on Friday March 1, with Eamonn Cregan’s Mary I left to fly the flag for Limerick.
