Defending champions University of Limerick breezed into the last four of the 2023 Fitzgibbon Cup with a comprehensive victory over UCD.
he Limerick side led from pillar to post with a Michael Kiely hat-trick removing any chance of an upset on Shannonside. The victors had 10 different scorers on a night which they were rarely troubled.
Having eased through the group, there was little chance of a tight encounter here either, when Kiely netted his first goal after 13 minutes. That opened up seven point lead and though it was only one more by half time, UCD were out of their depth.
For UCD, an over reliance on Donal O’Shea’s free-taking left them well adrift. They had cut the gap midway through the second half thanks to fine points from Colum Prendiville and Liam Murphy from Cuala. But ultimately UL were able to show their quality, with their bench helping them coast home.
Limerick’s Adam English was on fine form, and he assisted their other goalscorer – James Power – whose strike was either side of Kiely’s other two green flags. Their inside line looked potent, chipping in with 4-3 over the hour’s hurling.
UL face SETU Waterford in next week’s semi-final clash.
Scorers for University of Limerick: M Kiely 3-0; G O’Connor 0-5 (0-2f), J Power 1-2; A English 0-4; S Twomey 0-3; C Coughlan, M Rogers, B O’Mara, B O’Sullivan, C Flaherty 0-1 each.
Scorers for University College Dublin: D O’Shea 0-6 (6f); C Prendiville, L Murphy 0-2 each.
University of Limerick: R Shelly; TJ Brennan, M Fitzgerald, M Gough; K Sampson, B O’Mara, D Corcoran; B O’Sullivan, C Coughlan; A English, G O’Connor, S Twomey; M Rogers, M Kiely, J Power
Subs: D Mason for Shelly (21 – inj), C Flaherty for Coughlan (37 – inj), C Galvin for Twomey (37), P Crotty for Rogers (49), P Dunne for Fitzgerald (51).
University College Dublin: E Hogan; I Ó hEithir, M Walsh, E Ryan; D O’Carroll, C O Cathasaigh, E Geraghty; M Twomey, E Guilfoyle; C Prendiville, L O’Brien, D O’Shea; J Duggan, D Purcell, L Murphy.
Subs: C Rogers for O’Brien (37), D O’Keeffe for Geraghty (44), K Egan for Duggan (49), E Purcell for Murphy (52), C Hoban for Guilfoyle (54).
Ref – F Horgan (Tipperary)
