THE OUTPOURING OF emotion at the final whistle as Mary Immaculate College won the Fitzgibbon Cup yesterday was a sight to behold.
Manager and coach, colleagues and cousins; Jamie Wall and Podge Collins shared a beautiful embrace as Mary I ended UL’s three-in-a-row bid and reigned supreme for the first time since 2017.
“A lot of emotion,” Collins, who recently retired from Clare dual duty, told Jerome Quinn after the 2-14 to 1-15 win in Abbeydorney.
“Jamie has given a lot more to this set-up than I have over the last 10 years, it’s just phenomenal. It’s more so pouring out for him really. I don’t know is it relief of what it is, you put a lot into a team.
“No one will know what Jamie has done for this team in background this year. The players, I don’t think, even know what he has done for them. He has given his heart and soul into the lads.
“A Fitzgibbon, it’s tough. It’s your college. You’ve got your club, your county, your college. It is tough, but Jamie just gives it everything. Maybe the emotions took over at the final whistle. It was going against us in the second half, you’re doubting a bit and the lads just dug it out. Delighted for them.”
‘He’s like a big brother to me..’
— GAA Higher Education (@HigherEdGAA) February 17, 2024
See Podge Collins and winning Mary I captain Colin O’Brien pay an emotional tribute to Jamie Wall after today’s Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup Final win.@MICLimerick @GaaClare @OfficialCorkGAA pic.twitter.com/r0s4x1GKPY
Captain Colin O’Brien also paid tribute to Wall, having given an emotional nod to the Corkman in his acceptance speech.
“I started below in first year and Jamie was our Freshers captain as well as the Fitzgibbon Cup captain,” O’Brien said.
“He was like a big brother to me since the minute I came in. There’s not many fellas that are your manager and you can still be friends with them as well. We just have a very special bond. To be able to do it for him is absolutely class.”
Pure emotion as Mary I win the Fitz!
— GAA Higher Education (@HigherEdGAA) February 17, 2024
See manager Jamie Wall embrace his colleague and cousin Podge Collins at the final whistle of the @ElectricIreland Fitzgibbon Cup Final.@MICLimerick @OfficialCorkGAA @LimerickCLG @officialgaa @SportTG4 @GaaClare @MTUKerryGAAClub @GAA_BEO pic.twitter.com/zQovjrWMNk
Wall also summed up what the victory meant, lauding the Fitzgibbon Cup. “It’s the best competition in the GAA as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
“For the people involved, it’s such an emotional thing. I saw during the week when Ulster University won [the Sigerson Cup], Tommy Joe [Farrell] who has given so many years there. Dave Billings in UCD, guys like Eamonn Cregan in Mary I who was in charge for so long before we won it. Every college has these guys.
“It’s not about the hurling really after, because those guys, Dave Billings, Tommy Joe and maybe myself in years to come might be talked about in the same way, our thing is about them as young fellas, them growing up, and trying to help them get through college, get their degrees, become part of our world.
“To see them fellas go on and become the teachers of the world, I think that’s such an encouraging thing. They’re going to be such brilliant fellas, brilliant role models and the future is bright.”
