UL manager Gary Kirby has described as “a disaster” this weekend’s clash that will see the Fitzgibbon Cup final played less than 24 hours before the penultimate round of the Allianz Hurling Leagues.

Legendary Tipperary hurler Michael Maher, whose death has occurred, was the last surviving member of the fearsome full-back line famously known as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, having been predeceased by Kieran Carey and John Doyle.

IT Carlow 2-20 UCC 1-20 (AET): Stephen Maher hit 11 points as IT Carlow reached their first Fitzgibbon Cup final at the expense of UCC in Dangan.

In-demand Dublin dual starlet Con O’Callaghan has revealed he won’t line out for UCD in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup so as to ease his fixtures load.

Munster chairman Jerry O’Sullivan says the decision not to invite third level teams into their pre-season competitions can be considered a success.

Mismatches have been held up as the reason behind the decision to remove the third level teams from next month’s pre-season competitions in Munster.

Cork IT

Limerick IT’s 2005 Fitzgibbon Cup winning captain Eoin Kelly believes semi-final opponents University of Limerick have a huge advantage ahead of this afternoon’s eagerly-awaited derby tie.

Something suspicious is happening. Very suspicious, says Larry Ryan.

Cork IT 0-19 NUI Galway 0-10: Cork IT are just one more win away from a third Fitzgibbon Cup final in four years after they advanced past NUI Galway at the CIT Sports Stadium yesterday.

Gerry Tully, the GAA’s Higher Education committee chairman, last night revealed they had no contact from the Hurling 2020 group during their extensive six month consultation process.

In Tipperary in recent times, there was a crude saying that if you wanted to find good hurlers in Holycross-Ballycahill you had to dig.

Let me tell you somethin’, the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.

UCC 3-28 Mary Immaculate Col 2-14

UCC 2-17 Mary Immaculate College 2-12

Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and UCC will contest tomorrow's Fitzgibbon Cup decider after semi-final wins over Waterford IT and UCD respectively this afternoon in Galway.

One of the country’s top hurling coaches who took his own life was “lonely” following the breakdown of his marriage a year earlier, an inquest heard yesterday.

The author of a book chronicling the history of third-level GAA has said that eligibility rules for competitions like the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups should be more tightly policed.

The Cork senior hurling management are determined to allow teenage hurling star Darren Sweetnam to prioritise his studies for his Leaving Cert despite the Rebels’ Munster championship opener on June 24 occurring just days after the Dohenys player completes his exams.

There’s a standing joke here on the sportsdesk when it comes to the Fitzgibbon Cup weekend: tell the photographers to turn their backs on the action out on the field and focus on the personalities in the crowd.

The double-jobbing with hurling teams over the past couple of months has created a frantic schedule for Donagh O’Donnell.

GALWAY hurling star Joe Canning is set for a return to the third-level arena with Limerick IT in this year’s Fitzgibbon Cup.

DAVY FITZGERALD will be unveiled as Limerick IT’s director of hurling next month.

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez is ready to unleash some of the club’s promising youngsters against Crewe in the Carling Cup – but not at the expense of a place in the next round of the competition.

THE Fitzgibbon Cup — boasting a new format — commences tomorrow with four games in Cork, Dublin and Limerick.

HISTORY will be created this weekend when The King's Inns, the institution responsible for training Ireland's barristers, compete in the Fitzgibbon weekend for the first time.

Ballygunner forward Shane O'Sullivan has forced his way into the Waterford side for Sunday's NHL Division 1A test against All-Ireland champions Cork (Pairc Ui Rinn, throw-in 2.30pm).

Up to €40,000 seized in a drugs raids has disappeared from a garda station, it was confirmed tonight.

Davy Fitzgerald, the sole Clare representative on the 2005 Vodafone GAA Hurling All-Star team, has repeated his determination to continue his inter-county goalkeeping career into next season.

LIMERICK IT, who host this year’s Datapac Fitzgibbon Cup weekend, will be anxious to be involved but must first beat Cork IT in Saturday’s quarter-final.

THE Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup competitions were officially launched at the Athlone Institute of Technology last night.

DIARMUID O’SULLIVAN, who recently announced he was quitting football to concentrate on hurling, will miss Cork’s Allianz NHL clash with Wexford at Wexford Park on Sunday because of a groin injury.

Waterford IT 0-13

UCD have made it through to the final of the Fitzgibbon Cup after a titanic clash with NUI Galway in Dolla, Co Tipperary.