Fitzgibbon Cup final: Cork manager and captain seek to lead big Mary I effort against UL

University of Limerick will be warm favourites as they target a third straight Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup title in this afternoon’s final in Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry (2.45pm).

However, just because their opponents in the all-Limerick decider, Mary Immaculate College, are the underdogs doesn’t mean that they can give themselves a free pass. Mary I are managed by Kilbrittain’s Jamie Wall and he’s keen for them to produce the best performance they can.

“You’re going to be under some bit of pressure and you have to be,” he says.

“We’re not there to just go out and have a game of hurling and see what happens.

“We took on a serious UCC team in the first match and we were under no illusions about the size of that task and this is the same.

“UL have unbelievable firepower. They’re undoubtedly as good a team what’s been in the competition – and I mean ever – but that’s the challenge.

“If you’re not interested in challenging yourself and taking on the best players, trying to prove that you yourself are one of the best, don’t bother playing the Fitzgibbon Cup.”

Mary I advanced to the final – their fourth in the last eight but first since 2019 – with an impressive semi-final victory over SETU Waterford at Mallow on Wednesday night.

“We won the toss and there was a significant breeze there,” Wall says, “you mightn’t have even noticed it on the stream.

“We said we’d go with it because these things can die down and you take whatever advantage is going. Secondly, there’s a lot to be said for trying to put yourself in a position where you’re in control of the game.

“You can keep someone at bay an awful lot easier than trying to chase a lead. People might say, ‘Oh, there’s a massive wind, it’ll be easy to score,’ but game-state is massive. You’re trying to get into lads’ heads with a big breeze to not all push up and hold the shape and get shots in from a nice distance – that all goes out the window if you’re seven or eight points down.

“We went with the wind on Wednesday and thankfully it worked out but, early on, it was 0-2 each for a while. Once we got to grips with the conditions, the lads played really well.”

Wall played in the final in 2013, when Mary I lost out to UCC. He was a selector under Eamonn Cregan when they claimed the title in 2016 and he was the man in charge as they retained it the following year.

That 2017 win over IT Carlow was the last time that the semi-final and final were played on consecutive days; two years later, when Mary I lost to UCC in the decider, they had a nine-day gap from the semi-final.

Wall feels a good balance has been struck.

“I used to love the weekend,” he says, “but I also understand why things have changed.

“For a couple of years, I think the turnaround was maybe too long if anything. You want to do something that’s cognisant of player welfare but still in the spirit of the Fitzgibbon.

“It’s ‘Fitzgibbon Week’ now and that’s good. The extra couple of days are welcome and the plan was for the lads to recover and rest in between the matches.

“We told the lads on Wednesday after the match that the three days were now the most important time in the whole Fitzgibbon Cup. It’s all about eating, hydrating and sleeping and trying to tick off the recovery credits and bank as many of them as you can.”

Colin O’Brien of Liscarroll/Churchtown Gaels is the captain and Wall has high praise for his fellow Corkman and the rest of the Mary I roster.

“Colin has been a superb leader all year for us, he’s an unbelievable captain,” he says.

“Shane Meehan was injured last year and Shane O’Brien was in first year, so the two of them were unavailable.

“Fionn McDonagh was in University of Galway last year and he’s doing the PME now – he’s played in two Fitzgibbon Cup finals and has brought physicality to the forwards and Devon is consistently doing what he has done all the time for us.

“There’s a great spirit there. I know every team will say theirs is the best but all I can do is speak for our own and they’re a really good bunch. I think the world of them.

“I said to them the other night, a lot of them are the people that are going to bring through the next generation and that, to me, is a very encouraging thought.”