PODGE COLLINS IS expecting an extra edge in this afternoon’s Fitzgibbon Cup derby between University of Limerick and Limerick IT.
The quarter-final pits UL student Collins and a handful of his Clare teammates against their inter-county boss Davy Fitzgerald.
There will be familiar faces on the pitch as well as on the sideline with Hurler of the Year Tony Kelly, Cathal McInerney and Jamie Shanahan all in LIT colours.
“It is funny with colleges,” Collins said. “You don’t really get the chance to play each other too often because it is a very short season even though you are there for four years, but there is a rivalry there between UL and LIT.
There is always a bit of slagging going on and a bit of friendly banter and I think it will draw a lot of interest from Limerick people.
Although this is the fourth and final year of Collins’ environmental science degree, it is his first tilt at Fitzgibbon hurling.
“Last year I was working down in Cork so I really could not make myself available. I was busy with work and with being involved with Clare, I couldn’t commit. They said that if I couldn’t make training there wasn’t much point and I was fine with that.
“The year before that I was really unfortunate. I tore the tendon in my little finger and I could not hold the hurley when the Fitzgibbon was being played.
“I did play Freshers when the Freshers was being played and we lost to a very strong UCC team in the semi-final in Charleville.”
Knowing that this is the last chance for this current crop of players only adds extra motivation as UL chase their fifth win in the competition and their first under the management of Banner great Brian Lohan.
It is great in the sense that we’re all good friends and you have that daily banter on the campus that you won’t have again when you are playing.
“You are not just playing with these guys, you are studying with them and seeing them every day so you become very tight.
“It is a great competition in that sense. It is unique in that we know that this is the last year that we are going to play together and that gives us an added incentive.”
