1. Waterford IT’s staying power and resilience
WIT are certainly a battle-hardened outfit at this juncture. They lost their opening group game to UCC but recovered from that setback to finish runner-up in their group and reach the last eight.
There they needed extra-time to win the quarter-final tie against DIT and yesterday it took extra-time once more before they saw off LIT.
Tip of the hat to them for not throwing in the towel yesterday when they trailed by nine points at the break, by the same margin with 21 minutes left and after conceding that last-gasp goal to Cathal McInerney with seconds level. In each scenario they engineered a route back into contention and those survival instincts will be key today.
2. CIT buoyed by momentous semi-final victory
With only two Cork third-level institutions plying their trade in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup, there’s always a keen edge to the battles between CIT and UCC. Two years ago CIT suffered a heartbreaking final defeat after extra-time against UCC in the Mardyke. Defeat was their lot once more last season while UCC also won this year’s Sigerson Cup tie between the colleges.
Yesterday was a success to cherish then for CIT as they upset the formbook as 13/5 outsiders and shattered UCC’s dreams of three-in-a-row. For manager Pat Mulcahy and the quintet of Eoin Keane, John Cronin, Michael O’Sullivan, David Drake and Jamie Coughlan – who all played in that dramatic 2012 decider – it was a victory to cherish.
3. Can CIT shake off the bridesmaids tag?
But CIT will not want to rest on their laurels after yesterday’s success. They have been great competitors in the Fitzgibbon Cup in recent times yet consistent challenges have brought no silverware. They lost semi-finals in 2009 and 2011 before falling in that decider in 2012.
Back in 2003 they reached the final against WIT but suffered defeat by three points at the Ragg in Thurles. After all those hard-luck stories, can CIT finally claim glory just five years after they won their one and only Sigerson Cup title?
4. The battle of the freetakers
Colm Bonnar and Pat Mulcahy will be warning their defences about the danger of conceding frees this afternoon. If they do, it seems likely they will be punished in terms of shipping points. WIT’s Pauric Mahony and CIT’s John O’Dwyer, two of the sharpest freetakers around, will be on hand to seize any openings.
Waterford senior Mahony shot over 0-16 yesterday against LIT, including 0-15 from placed balls. That followed up on his 0-14 haul, which featured 0-10 from frees, against DIT in the quarter-final. A Fitzgibbon Cup winner with UCC in 2012, Ballygunner man Mahony is in electric form.
Watch out for Bubbles O’Dwyer as well. He had scored 2-18 from his three Fitzgibbon games to date before yesterday and then struck 0-11, including the match-winning point, in CIT’s semi-final win over UCC. The Tipperary attacker will need to be policed.
5. Will the wind be a key factor again?
The wind exerted a serious influence on last weekend’s Sigerson Cup action at the Queen’s University playing fields in Belfast. Yesterday it was a factor once more as LIT dominated the first-half of their semi-final before WIT came roaring back after the break.
Similarly CIT controlled the opening period of their game before UCC responded to take over in the second-half. It will be interesting to see will their be fluctuating fortunes again in this afternoon’s final.
