Champions UL pushed hard

Holders, University of Limerick were pushed all the way by a plucky St Pat’s team that scrapped for every ball in this Fitzgibbon Cup game at the Na Fianna grounds, Dublin yesterday.

The student teachers were the better team for most of the first half and established a 1-3 to 0-2 lead when accurate free-taker, Niall Arthur, smashed a 21-yard free to the net. It was well deserved for there was more energy and purpose to their play and they were coping far better with the poor underfoot conditions than UL, who tended to overelaborate.

Slowly, UL asserted themselves thanks mainly to the energy and accuracy of centre-forward Cyril Donnellan who clipped over three fine points and, by half-time, they had managed to draw level.