Waterford IT won their first Fitzgibbon Cup title since 2008, and their seventh since 1999, with a deserved five-point victory over Cork IT in the final at the Dub in Queens on Saturday evening.

Report via GAA.ie

WIT were never behind over the hour’s play and scored the first four points inside the opening seven minutes at Queen’s University playing fields, Belfast. Although CIT, chasing their first Fitzgibbon Cup, drew level briefly in the early stages of the second-half at 0-10 apiece, WIT finished strong.

Man of the match Jake Dillon and Harry Kehoe were instrumental in getting them over the line with stylish points from play to kill off CIT’s hopes in the last quarter.

Waterford started brightly and even though they had played extra-time against LIT in the semi-final on Friday, they showed no ill-effects and were sharper in most of the exchanges.

Cork IT’s first score did not arrive until the 12th minute, through a free from near the sideline from John O’Dwyer, who scored 0-11 in their semi-final victory over UCC.

WIT maintained their cushion with further points from Kenny and Jake Dillon but CIT reeled off three in a row from Cooper and a brace from O’Dwyer inside a minute to close the deficit to a single point.

Crucially, however, WIT scored the last two points of the half from Kenny and Dillon to hold a commanding 0-10 to 0-7 lead at the break, with the wind at their backs to come.

CIT had their best spell in the third quarter with scored three points in a row from Conor Hammersley, John O’Dwyer (free) and Mark Ellis to draw level for the only time in the match after 38 minutes. The next point was crucial and it was Harry Kehoe, the two-goal hero of their semi-final win, who got it in the 41st minute to give WIT belief again.

Cork IT started chasing a goal too early and Daniel Dooley hit the side-netting from a very tight angle when a goal never looked on. The Cork side lofted a few balls into the square but WIT captain Eoin Murphy came out twice with the sliotar after making superb clean catches in the air.

CIT got back to within 0-13 to 0-12 with ten minutes still remaining but WIT played with a lot of spirit in the closing stages with Johnny Hayes, a Kehoe brace and Jake Dillon steering them to a first Fitzgibbon Cup title since 2008.

**

Scorers for Waterford IT: P Mahony 0-4 (4f), J Dillon 0-4, H Kehoe, C Kenny 0-3 each, J Hayes, E Murphy, L McGrath 0-1 each

Scorers for Cork IT: J O’Dwyer 0-5 (5f), J Cronin, C Hammersley, B Cooper 0-2 each, M Ellis 0-1

WATERFORD IT: S O’Keefe; G Teehan, P Gahan, J Maher; T Hamill, J O’Dwyer, J Langton; S Roche, C Kenny; H Kehoe, P Mahony, E Murphy; L McGrath, J Dillon, G O’Brien. Subs: J Hayes for McGrath (46), A Kenny for O’Dwyer (51), M Power for Kenny (60)

CORK IT: S Nylan; S Murphy, A Dennehy, T Lawrence; E Keane, M Ellis, P Butler; W Murphy, J Coughlan; J O’Dwyer, J Cronin, C Hammersley; B Cooper, D Dooley, D Drake. Subs: K O’Connor for Coughlan (23), K Hallissey for Drake (38), D Corbett for Murphy (45), D Brosnan for Corbett (55), S Murray for Cooper (59)

REFEREE: James McGrath (Westmeath)