UCC firepower proves decisive in Cork derby

UCC were more clinical in front of goal in the second half as they recorded an away victory against Cork IT in the opening round of the Fitzgibbon Cup last night.

Having led by 0-11 to 0-8 at half-time following late points from Shane Kingston and Michael Breen, UCC allowed their city rivals back to within a point on the resumption, but outscored the hosts by 1-8 to 0-2 from there to the end.

The visitors had ten different scorers, with Cork senior Kingston scoring five points while Tipperary’s Michael Breen had three with Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Tom Denie and John Power on the scoresheet too.

CIT can rightly point to the absence of key men such as Cork panellist Michael Cahalane and Limerick’s Robbie Hanley, and it was poor shooting which cost them in a scoreless period from the 42nd to 62nd minutes.

The home side had contended well in the first half, leading 0-4 to 0-3 after a pair of Mikey Kearney frees and, after Power (two) and Fitzgibbon threatened to send UCC clear, levelling through goalkeeper Patrick Collins and Jerry O’Neill.

It was UCC who were having the greater shooting troubles in the first half, but they still did enough to hold that three-point interval advantage. While Collins and Kearney were on target for CIT after the restart, UCC found an extra gear to kick on impressively in the final quarter, sub Robbie O’Flynn making sure of the win with a goal.