MTU Cork's Fitzgibbon Cup resurgence a ripple effect of Rebel underage success
REBEL RIPPLE: Nine starters for MTU Cork have played and won together underage for Cork. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
MTU Cork are relevant in the Fitzgibbon Cup conversation once again. That’s not been the case over the past 10 years. On four occasions during this period, they failed to advance from their group. On the four occasions they did, they went no further than the quarters. Two of those last-eight defeats were by double-digit margins (2019 and 2024). The remaining two - 2016 and 2022 - were by five and six points respectively.
After a period of sustained involvement in the finals weekend, which included beaten final appearances in 2012 and 2014, as well as semi-final showings in 2011 and 2015, MTU Cork, or CIT as they were known then, drifted back into the pack and obscurity.
This evening’s semi-final in Mallow (8pm) represents their first time reaching the penultimate round in 10 years. A very simple analysis of their return to contention and the latter rounds is the ripple effect of Cork’s underage success of recent years.
Corner-back Darragh O’Sullivan, midfielder Micheál Mullins, and half-forward Diarmuid Healy were teammates on the 2023 All-Ireland U20 winning team. Goalkeeper Cathal Wilson, centre-back Ciarán Joyce, and inside forward Jack Cahalane were teammates on the U20 winning side from 2021. Alan Connolly, Joyce, and Cahalane hurled together for the 2020 class that won their delayed All-Ireland less than two months earlier.
In that same 2021 summer, midfielder Mikey Finn won an All-Ireland minor alongside O’Sullivan and Healy. He was a sub for the U20 success two years later. Half-forward Rhys McCarthy, among the scorers in last week's quarter-final win over TUS Midwest, was also an U20 panelist in 2023.
All totted, that’s nine starters on the MTU Cork team that have hurled and won together in red across recent seasons. Such high-level familiarity is clearly helping the college in their quest for a maiden Fitz crown.
Colin Coughlan, Adam English, Aidan O’Connor, and Patrick O’Donovan started Limerick’s Sunday afternoon League win over Tipperary. All bar O’Donovan played the 70 minutes-plus. And even at that, O’Donovan was only removed two minutes from the finish.
The quartet step back inside the whitewash at Mallow this Tuesday evening, little over 48 hours on from that taxing League encounter with the neighbours. Should UL navigate the challenge of MTU Cork and advance to Saturday afternoon’s decider, the quartet must then navigate a schedule of three games inside six days. Eddie Stokes, another to line out in green at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday, is facing similar in UCC colours.
That John Kiely named a 25-man panel for Tipp’s visit, as opposed to the 26 he was entitled to name, reinforced the bare bones pick he is working off at the moment. It's a skeleton situation he was keen to address post-Tipp.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to play the boys we did today but you can see you have no choice in the matter, you really don’t. If you take them out of our picture today, we don’t have a team essentially.”
Plenty of inter-county managers are rightly criticised this time each year for asking too much of players when they know their respective college load is already heavy enough. For Kiely, in this instance, it would appear his hands were tied.
An absentee list of Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash, Declan Hannon, Will O'Donoghue, Darragh O'Donovan, Cathal O'Neill, Gearóid Hegarty, Tom Morrissey, Séamus Flanagan, Shane O'Brien, and Peter Casey would support such a statement.
UCC have had a fortnight to ready their replacement freetaker for this evening’s semi-final against DCU (SETU Carlow, 6.30pm).
Ben Cunningham had nine frees and one 65 to his name when his hamstring went in the final quarter of the Round 3 group win over MTU Cork. A couple of those frees, in keeping with similar earlier round efforts, were absolute monsters from well inside the UCC half.
Tom Kingston's students didn’t win a scorable free in the 10 minutes after Cunningham’s departure and so we got no insight into who management have in mind as their back-up. Options, though, they are not short of.
Daniel Hogan, in Aaron Myers’ absence, was handed free-taking responsibility for Sars’ 2024 county championship campaign. It was a county championship where he converted 0-25 from the dead-ball across five games. Darragh Flynn is another proficient in this area. Indeed, the Ballygiblin forward shared some of said duties with Cunningham and Shane Barrett during last year’s Fitzgibbon campaign.
Cunningham is a loss. No question. How sizable a loss is not yet known.
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Gaelic football has long been the dominant sibling up around St Clare’s. That never deterred those on the hurling side of the DCU house. They persevered and built a community. From Fitzgibbon Cup whipping boys to first-time finalists in 2018. An 82nd minute Chris O’Leary penalty and 65th minute Mark Coleman sideline saw UCC deny them, by the minimum, further final appearances in 2019 and 2020.
Their annual post-primary blitz was an open day of a different kind in putting DCU on the radar of hurling-inclined secondary school students from around the province. Last week's quarter-final win over fallen champions Mary I featured players from seven different Leinster counties.
Can they write a different ending to this latest semi-final chapter with UCC?
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