UCC hurlers lose in Fitz Semi-Final

 

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).

Unlocking Performance: How GPS is Changing the Game

 

In the fast-paced world of Gaelic Games, the difference between good and great often comes down to the finest of margins. How far did a player run? At what intensity? How did their workload impact their recovery?

Gone are the days of relying on gut instinct alone—GPS technology is transforming how coaches and players understand performance. With real-time data, training and game-day decisions are becoming more informed than ever before. But how do you translate those numbers into meaningful insights?

On Monday, February 17th, at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, some of Cork’s leading performance experts will take a deep dive into GPS-driven feedback and how it can elevate player performance.

Meet the Experts:

🔹 Conor Clancy – Sport Scientist with Cork Senior Hurlers
🔹 Alex Collins – Sport Scientist with Cork Senior Footballers
🔹 Cathal O’Brien – S&C Coach with Cork U20 Hurlers
🔹 Dylan Byrne – S&C Coach with Cork U17 Footballers

What You’ll Learn:

✅ The key GPS metrics that matter most
✅ How to apply data to optimize training loads
✅ Using GPS insights to prevent injury and enhance recovery
✅ Practical strategies for game-day decision-making

For just €11, this workshop offers a rare opportunity to learn from those working at the cutting edge of performance science in Cork GAA.

Are you ready to take your coaching and performance analysis to the next level?

📍 Páirc Uí Chaoimh
📅 Monday, February 17th | ⏰ 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
💰 Cost: €11

Spaces are limited – don’t miss out! Book your place below by buying a ticket.

 

Pádraig Power to miss the rest of the season due to Cruciate Ligament Injury;

Pádraig Power to miss rest of season due to cruciate Ligament Injury; 
Denis Hurley (The Echo)

The Cork hurling team have been hit with another injury blow as attacker Pádraig Power has been ruled out of action for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Power, who scored 1-4 in the win over Wexford in the opening round of the Allianz Hurling League, was forced off in the first half of last Saturday’s draw with Limerick. However, in addition to a shoulder dislocation which was set to sideline him for six weeks, the Blarney man has since been diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament.

Power had been included in Cork’s 37-man squad for the year, which was released on Tuesday, before the news of the more serious injury arrived.

“Unfortunately, Pádraig Power is going to be out for the year,” Ryan said.

“He did his cruciate as well as his shoulder, it was an accidental collision into his knee. It only emerged after we had the panel finalised, we were hoping that it might just have been cartilage.

Last year, a shoulder injury requiring surgery meant that Power did not feature for most of the inter-county season but, such was his progress on his return to fitness that he saw some championship game-time.

“He did so well last year, when he was out for much of the year but battled his way back in and came on in the All-Ireland semi-final,” Ryan said.

“He was obviously hoping to kick on from that and we were hoping he would too. He was very good against Wexford and it’s just a shame but the main thing is that he makes a full recovery.

Cork GAA sends best wishes to Pádraig Power in his recovery and we are all looking forward to see him return to the Red & White of Cork & Blarney.

The Cork Senior Hurling Panel has been announced;

ALAN CONNOLLY BLACKROCK
BRIAN HAYES ST FINBARR’S
BRIAN ROCHE BRIDE ROVERS
BRION SAUNDERSON MIDLETON
CATHAL MCCARTHY SARSFIELDS
CIARAN JOYCE CASTLEMARTYR
CONOR LEHANE MIDLETON
CORMAC O’ BRIEN NEWTOWNSHANDRUM
DAMIEN CAHALANE ST FINBARR’S
DANIEL HOGAN SARSFIELDS
DARRAGH FITZGIBBON CHARLEVILLE
DARRAGH FLYNN BALLYGIBLIN
DARRAGH O’ SULLIVAN BALLINHASSIG
DECLAN DALTON FR O’ NEILL’S
DIARMUID HEALY LISGOOLD
EOIN DOWNEY GLEN ROVERS
EOIN ROCHE BRIDE ROVERS
ETHAN TWOMEY ST FINBARR’S
GER MILLERICK FR O’ NEILL’S
JACK CAHALANE ST FINBARR’S
JACK O’ CONNOR SARSFIELDS
LUKE MEADE NEWCESTOWN
MARK COLEMAN BLARNEY
MICHEAL MULLINS WHITECHURCH
NIALL O’ LEARY CASTLELYONS
PÁDRAIG POWER BLARNEY
PATRICK COLLINS BALLINHASSIG
PATRICK HORGAN GLEN ROVERS
ROB DOWNEY (Captain) GLEN ROVERS
ROBBIE COTTER BLACKROCK
ROBBIE O’ FLYNN ERIN’S OWN
SÉAMUS HARNEDY ST ITA’S
SEÁN O’ DONOGHUE INNISCARRA
SHANE BARRETT (Vice Captain) BLARNEY
SHANE KINGSTON DOUGLAS
TIM O’ MAHONY NEWTOWNSHANDRUM
TOMMY O’ CONNELL MIDLETON

Down edge out Cork at Páirc Esler;

Allianz Football League Division One

Down 1-19 (1- 4-11) Cork 2-15 (2-5-5)

By Steve Malone at Páirc Esler

Down gave their Division Two ambitions a huge shot in arm with a magnificent comeback win.

Down made a few changes to the team that was announced during the week with goalkeeper John O’Hare to make way for Ronan Burns to make his county debut between the sticks, while as against Roscommon, Gareth McKibben replaced Kilcoo’s Miceal Rooney and Burren’s Ryan Magill took the corner forward spot instead of Conor McCrickard.

It was all Cork for much of the opening half, with five first half two-pointers building up a seven point break at by half-time, but Down displayed courage and a bit of swagger in the second half and Pat Havern’s crucial two-pointer put the Mourne men ahead for the first time of the game on 64 minutes.

Brian O’Driscoll had the chance to take the two league points down the long road home, but his pressure two-pointer free drifted wide and with it Cork’s hopes of back-to-back wins.

It is a massive victory for the Mourne men, who take on Meath in Newry next and they’ll be aiming to build on this result and performance.

Chris Óg Jones bagged the opening goal on 12 minutes to give Cork the lead and while Down replied with points from Oisin Savage, Odhran Murdock and Pat Havern, the Rebels kept pulling away with five two-pointers, with three of them coming from play. O’Driscoll, Maguire and Sean McDonnell raised the orange flag as did Mark Cronin from frees.

Cork had cruised into the 1-11 to 0-4 lead, but Down finished the half with the last three scores, from keeper Burns and Savage and they missed a glorious chance for a goal, with James Guinness blazing wide from close range.

Down made short work getting back into the groove early in the second as James Guinness and Pat Havern launched two pointers and Guinness added on a single point.

However, Cork pulled away again with Sean McDonnell netting and they seemed to have weathered the Mourne storm, but Down refused to let up and Murdock pointed before Danny Magill lashed into the net to make it a one-point game.

Then on 64 minutes, Havern landed his two-pointer free to steer Down ahead for the first time of the game.

There were four frenzied additional minutes and Cork could have regained the lead at the death but O’Driscoll’s effort dropped wide, which was the last kick of the game, much to Down’s relief.

Scorers for Down: Pat Havern 0-8 (1 tp, 3tpf), Danny Magill 1-1, Odhran Murdock and James Guinness (1 tp) 0-3 each, Oisín Savage 0-2 (1f), Ceilum Doherty and Ronan Burns (45) 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cork: Mark Cronin 0-6 (2 2ptf), Seán McDonnell 1-2 (1 2pt), Chris Óg Jones 1-0, Brian O’Driscoll (tp) and Rory Maguire (tp) 0-2 each, Sean Walsh, Eoghan McSweeney, and Patrick Doyle (f) 0-1 each.

Down: Ronan Burns, Peter Fegan, Ryan McEvoy, Patrick McCarthy, Gareth McKibben, Pierce Laverty, Caolan Mooney, Daniel Guinness, Odhran Murdock, Ceilum Doherty, James Guinness, Danny Magill, Oisin Savage, Pat Havern, Ryan Magill.

Subs: Conor McCrickard for McKibben (45’), Aaron McClements for Oisin Savage (55’), Eugene Branigan for Mooney (55’), Miceal Rooney for J Guinness (59’).

Cork: Patrick Doyle, Maurice Shanley, Daniel O’Mahony, Neil Loughran, Brian O’Driscoll, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor, Sean Walsh, Colm O’Callaghan, Paul Walsh, Sean Porter, Eoghan McSweeney, Mark Cronin, Chris Og Jones, Sean McDonnell.

Subs: Tommy Walsh for S Porter (29’), Cathail Maguire for E Sweeney (55’).

Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry).