The draws for the 2014 GAA Higher Education championships were made today, with the Fitzgibbon Cup throwing up an all-Limerick clash between UL and Mary Immaculate College.
2011 winners UL and 2013 runners-up MIC are joined in Group B by UCD in what is sure to be a fiercely-contested division. The other Limerick representatives in the premier hurling competition, LIT, are in Group C alongside CIT and GMIT.
UCC, winners of the previous two Fitzgibbon Cups, are in Group A with 2008 winners Waterford IT, IT Carlow and St Pat’s Mater Dei. The line-up is completed by NUI Galway, DCU and DIT in Group D.
The finals weekend for 2014 will take place in Belfast, with the semi-finals on Friday February 28 and the decider scheduled for Saturday March 1.
In the Sigerson Cup, UL have been given an away draw in the preliminary round against Queen’s University Belfast. If the Shannonsiders are able to pull off a landmark victory, they will then play GMIT in the first round proper.
Limerick’s two participants in the Trench Cup will face each other in the first round. The winners of Mary Immaculate College and LIT will be away to Letterkenny IT in the quarter-finals.
The finals weekend of the football competitions will also be staged in Belfast, with the semi-finals down for Friday February 21 and the finals on Saturday February 22.
The Higher Education competitions are due to begin on the week commencing Monday January 27, with fixture arrangements to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
2014 FITZGIBBON CUP
Group A: UCC, WIT, IT Carlow, St Pat’s Mater Dei
Group B: UL, Mary Immaculate College, UCD
Group C: Cork IT, LIT, GMIT
Group D: NUI Galway, DCU, DIT
Top two teams in each group advance to quarter-finals.
2014 SIGERSON CUP
Preliminary round: NUI Galway v IT Tralee, UL v QUB
First round: GMIT v UL/QUB, NUI Maynooth v Blanchardstown IT, UCC v TCD, IT Carlow v Cork IT, DIT v St Mary’s Belfast, UUJ v Sligo IT, UCD v Athlone IT, DCU v NUIG/IT Tralee
First round winners advance to quarter-finals
2014 TRENCH CUP
First round: Dundalk IT v Southern Regional College, Mary Immaculate College v LIT, UU Coleraine v WIT, IT Tallaght v Marino
Quarter-finals: Letterkenny IT v MIC/LIT, St Patrick’s College v UUC/WIT, Dundalk IT/SRC v IT Tallaght/Marino
