Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final
Dublin IT 1-14
Waterford IT 1-21
(After extra time; DIT 1-10, WIT 0-13 after 60 minutes).
PAURIC MAHONY HIT 0-14 as eight-time winners Waterford IT advanced to the semi-finals of the Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon Cup at the expense of Dublin IT this afternoon.
Extra-time was required to separate the sides at Parnells GAA club in Coolock and it was Waterford star Mahony who proved the difference with his matchwinning haul, including points from frees.
DIT corner forward Sean McGrath missed two penalties – one in each half – as the sides finished level at the end of 60 minutes.
WIT also had goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe to thank for some superb saves as the Waterford netminder atoned for last Saturday night’s late error against Tipperary in Thurles.
O’Keeffe was beaten just once, in the first half when Diarmuid Horan netted for a DIT side inspired by Tipperary’s Kieran Bergin, and that goal helped Joe Fortune’s outfit to lead by a point at half-time, 1-6 to 0-8.
The sides were level five times in the second half and McGrath saw his 54th minute penalty saved at a stage when DIT trailed by just a point.
Luckless McGrath has also seen his 12th minute penalty blocked on the line by WIT full-back Pauric Gahan.
Wexford’s Liam Óg McGovern tied the scores at 1-10 to 0-13 with an equalising point in the 56th minute and a riveting tie that saw both sides shoot eleven wides during the regulation hour finished level.
Liam McGrath netted with the first play in extra-time and the Tipp senior panellist’s well-taken goal handed WIT some badly-needed breathing space.
At half-time in extra-time, Colm Bonnar’s side led by 1-17 to 1-12 and with Mahony calling the tune, WIT pushed on to set up a semi-final meeting with University of Limerick or Limerick IT at Queen’s.
Scorers for DIT: Sean McGrath 0-5 (4f), Diarmuid Horan 1-2 (1f), Kieran Bergin 0-4, Mike Moloney (f), Niall McMorrow & Liam Óg McGovern 0-1 each.
Scorers for WIT: Pauric Mahony 0-14 (10f), Liam McGrath 1-1, Cathal Kenny 0-3, Harry Kehoe, Jake Dillon (sl) & Gavin O’Brien 0-1 each.
DUBLIN IT: Finn McGarry (Dublin); Willie Devereux (Wexford), Ger McManus (Dublin), Frankie Power (Dublin); Conor Robinson (Dublin), Liam Rushe (Dublin), Mike Moloney (Kilkenny); John Henderson (Wicklow), Stephen Morris (Meath); Thomas Connolly (Dublin), Kieran Bergin (Tipperary), Diarmuid Horan (Offaly); Niall McMorrow (Dublin), Liam Óg McGovern (Wexford), Sean McGrath (Dublin).
Subs: Jack Hobbs (Wexford) for McManus (33), Oisin Boland (Dublin) for Morris (56), Paul McDonagh (Cork) for Connolly (70).
WATERFORD IT: Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford); Ger Teehan (Kilkenny), Pauric Gahan (Kilkenny), Jerome Maher (Waterford); Thomas Hamill (Tipperary), Martin Power (Kilkenny), Shaun Murphy (Wexford); Stephen Roche (Waterford), Cathal Kenny (Kilkenny); Harry Kehoe (Wexford), Pauric Mahony (Waterford), Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny); Liam McGrath (Tipperary), Jake Dillon (Waterford), Gavin O’Brien (Waterford).
Subs: Martin Gaffney (Kilkenny) for Power (42), Jack Langton (Kilkenny) for Roche (49), Andrew Kenny (Wexford) for Kehoe (59), Luke Hickey for Teehan (60), Kehoe for Gaffney (60), Cormac Heffernan (Waterford) for McGrath (65), Johnny Hayes (Kilkenny) for Kehoe (73).
Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)
