UL favourites but Cork IT out to keep double dream alive
Just like their football counterparts, the hurlers are aiming to land a maiden crown and CIT GAA officer Keith Ricken is hopeful they can maintain the recent good times for GAA in the college.
“It’s great to be involved in another competition. The closing stages of the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson are what every college aspires to reach and it’s a huge achievement that we got to both final weekends. The hard work is paying off now.
“I think we have a greater strength-in-depth with the hurlers this year, they’ve worked very hard. Hopefully last weekend will rub off on them. The hurlers and footballers are closely linked here and I know the lads are very optimistic heading into the UL match.”
UL have cut an impressive path through the competition, with an opening day success over champions Waterford IT and a quarter-final thumping of St Pat’s Drumcondra last week. Their coach Ger Cunningham is satisfied with their progress to date.
“We’re happy with how things have gone so far. Training has gone well for us and our progress has been good. It’s been six years since we last won it and that’s too long a time for us. We’ve a clean bill of health this weekend and we’re all up for it.” An obvious point of reference for this clash is the Waterford Crystal Cup tie between the pair back in January which UL won by 0-14 to 1-8, yet the early season mode that both teams were operating on must be factored in. Since then CIT have improved immeasurably, with a morale-boosting win away to GMIT followed up by a rousing derby victory over UCC.
They failed to replicate their group excellence when stuttering past UCD last week in the quarter-finals, yet they’ll simply be pleased to have ensured a last four spot.
UL’s attack have hit full speed over the last few weeks and CIT must silence that threat. Offaly senior Brian Carroll is UL’s dangerman but he gets good support from Matthew Ruth (Kilkenny) and Ryan O’Dwyer (Tipperary). CIT’s backline has been a strong point of late and they will need Chris Murphy, Eoin Dillon and Ross Cashman to be commanding here.
In the scoring department CIT will be hoping Adrian Mannix can pitch in heavily from midfield, that Brian Corry and Ryan Clifford can excel in attack, but they need to service Cathal Naughton with greater frequency. The sense remains that Naughton would be better deployed out the field where his pace and skill can cause greater damage.
If CIT can tap into the passion they produced against UCC and draw on the inspiration of their footballer’s heroics, then a winning display is within their capabilities. But UL have a mean and imposing look about them, getting stronger as the campaign progresses.
Kieran Joyce (Kilkenny) and Thomas Stapleton (Tipperary) will ensuring they do not cough up a pile of scores in defence, and Seamus Hickey is a class act at midfield. In addition they have good options off the bench in Kevin Lanigan (Tipperary) and Shane O’Brien (Clare), which could swing the issue.
Verdict: UL
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
