Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final

DCU 1-20 UCC 1-16

By Paul Keane at the SETU Carlow GAA Grounds

No third level outfit from beyond Munster has managed to win the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup title since 2010. DCU have never won the title at all.

Those two stats may very well be amended this Saturday because DCU are through to just their second ever final and on the evidence of this all action, powerful semi-final win, they will take some stopping.

Donal Shirley certainly won’t forget his trip to the SETU Carlow GAA grounds any time soon as the Offaly man drilled a terrific goal which went a long way to settling this tie and dumping out 2020 winners UCC.

The scores were tied when DCU forged a move straight through the centre of UCC’s defence, ending with Shirley blasting off his left side to the net.

Having trailed 40-times champions UCC at half-time, the Shirley goal put DCU into a lead they would only embellish by full-time as they finished strongly.

Shirley hit 1-2 overall while Dublin’s Joe Flanagan helped himself to five important points, all from play.

Four of Flanagan’s points came in the second-half as DCU, whose footballers are also through to tomorrow evening’s Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final, turned the screw impressively.

Free-taker Denis Walsh nailed six ponts from placed balls too while the counties of Kildare, Wexford and Kilkenny were also represented on a breakthrough evening for DCU.

UCC will rue the nine second-half wides they blasted, and 15 overall, as they surprisingly slipped up at the penultimate hurdle.

It was mostly Cork men that buttressed the UCC team but Waterford’s Michael Mullaney drilled a cracking point late in the first-half.

UCC looked to be in a good position at that stage with Fionn Coleman’s goal midway the half giving them real impetus after a slow start that saw them fall three behind, 0-3 to 0-6.

Ethan Twomey sniped a couple of eye-catching scores for UCC who hit the interval with a 1-10 to 0-12 lead.

UCC were fortunate in first-half stoppage time when Sean Gallagher, who featured for Dublin in 2024 like Flanagan, had a goal opportunity blocked out for a ’65.

And UCC did their best to capitalise after the restart with three points, including two beauties from William Buckley, to DCU’s two in the opening 10 minutes or so.

But that’s when the wides started to mount up for UCC and St Finbarr’s man Twomey cut a frustrated figure on several occasions.

DCU, meanwhile, sensed opportunity knocking and drilled points from Walsh and Flanagan before Shirley cut through the UCC defence and struck his sidewinder to the net.

Suddenly, DCU had a 1-16 to 1-13 lead and while UCC got it back to a two-point game on a couple of occasions in the final quarter, the side in blue always looked more likely to prevail.

They duly did so with four points in a row between the 51st and 57th minutes setting the seal on victory.

DCU scorers: Denis Walsh 0-6 (0-5f, 0-1 65), Donal Shirley 1-2, Joe Flanagan 0-5, Cian Boran 0-2, Paddy Langton 0-1, Sean Gallagher 0-1, Sam Bourke 0-1, Billy Reid 0-1, Darragh Carley 0-1.

UCC scorers: Fionn Coleman 1-1, Darragh Flynn 0-4 (0-2f), Ethan Twomey 0-3, William Buckley 0-3, Darragh Stakelum 0-1, Michael Mullaney 0-1, Brian Keating 0-1, Peter McGarry 0-1, Luke Elliott 0-1.

DCU: Cian Byrne (Wexford); Ivan Bolger (Kilkenny), Paddy Langton (Kilkenny), Padraig Lennon (Kilkenny); Sam Bourke (Offaly), Padraic Moylan (Kilkenny), Billy Reid (Kilkenny); Donal Shirley (Offaly), Colin Spain (Offaly); Sean Gallagher (Dublin), Denis Walsh (Kilkenny), Darragh Carley (Wexford); Cian Boran (Kildare), Joe Flanagan (Dublin), Peter Clarke (Westmeath).

Subs: Cillian Dunne (Laois) for Walsh (55), Conoe Kehoe (Carlow) for Gallagher (55), James Carroll (Kilkenny) for Clarke (62).

UCC (Cork unless stated): Paudie O’Sullivan; Tommy Wilk, Sean Daly, Ciaran Doolan; Michael Mullaney (Waterford), Eoin Downey, James Dwyer; Brian Keating, Darragh Stakelum (Tipperary); Ethan Twomey, Eddie Stokes (Limerick), Darragh Flynn; William Buckley, Fionn Coleman, Cathal McCarthy

Subs: Peter McGarry (Tipperary) for Wilk (h/t), Daniel Hogan for Keating (43), Luke Elliott for Dwyer (45), Eoin O’Leary for Stakelum (53).

Referee: James Owens (Wexford).