NUIG all set to host Fitzgibbon thrillers

IF THERE are prerequisites for a successful Fitzgibbon Cup finals weekend, this year’s model looks to have ticked all the boxes.

The hosts are present in NUI Galway. The form teams are all there in the three sides that topped this year’s groups in Limerick IT, NUIG and UL. The tradition is accounted for with Limerick IT, Waterford IT and UL having garnered seven of the last eight titles. And most of all there is a wealth of talent on view with a galaxy of inter-county stars in the four teams led by the most luminous light in this year’s Fitzgibbon Cup, Joe Canning.

It’s difficult to argue that there could have been a better quartet for this weekend’s final action in Galway. The first last-four tie in Dangan at noon is a repeat of the 2007 decider between NUIG and LIT. On that occasion the Davy Fitzgerald-trained side emerged victorious and they have cut an impressive swathe through this year’s competition. Canning is their figurehead at full-forward, and they have defensive strength in James McInerney and Nicky O’Connell, the midfield dynamism of Sean Collins and Tipp centre-forward Seamus Callanan. However injury victims Conor Cooney and Eamonn Glynn are losses to their defensive cause.