Ulster Bank Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups set for throw-in
January 25, 2010
At the launch of the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup competitions in Croke Park were Diarmuid Connolly (DIT), GAA President Christy Cooney, Rory Meehan (Ulster Bank) and John Conlon (NUI Galway)
ULSTER BANK SIGERSON AND FITZGIBBON CUPS SET FOR THROW-IN
Higher Education GAA is set to move into overdrive in the next month with the Ulster Bank Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups forming the centrepiece for plenty of Championship action with almost 50 colleges set to pit their skills in the next six weeks.
Last year Cork did the double with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) winning the Ulster Bank Sigerson Cup on home turf and University College Cork (UCC) matching their rival's feat by bringing the Ulster Bank Fitzgibbon Cup back to the Leeside. Both CIT and UCC are expected to make a strong defence of their crowns this year, but as always the Ulster Bank Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup's bring their own share of unpredictability.
In the Sigerson Cup recently crowned Ryan Cup and league champions UUJ will lead the charge from the north. However rivals Queens University Belfast will certainly have something to say about this, with thousands expected to descend on the Dub in Belfast for their Round 2 clash on February 3rd. Weekend hosts NUI Maynooth wait in the wings for a quarter-final meeting on February 17th. College rivalries also extend South on that day with DCU hosting UCD in an all-Dublin clash that is sure to be a mouth-watering encounter.
The Ulster Bank Fitzgibbon Cup also promises to once again set the hearts racing, for those in need of a competitive mid-week GAA fix in what is a busy period in the GAA calendar. Reigning champions UCC along with UL and UCD all still in the hunt for league honours after a bad spell of weather forced the cancellation of games before Christmas. Those colleges along with the likes of NUI Galway, Cork IT, Waterford IT and Limerick IT will be hoping to be in the shakeup once silverware is on offer in Galway Äì with the competitions round robin structure ensuring every game will be keenly contested.
Ulster Bank's sponsorship of Higher Education GAA is set to run up to and including the centenary championships in 2011. The sponsorship includes all seven Higher Education Championships; in Gaelic Football, the Further Education Colleges Championship, Corn na MacLeinn, the Trench Cup and the Sigerson Cup and in Hurling, the Fergal Maher Cup, The Ryan Cup and the Fitzgibbon Cup.
The Ulster Bank Sigerson Cup semi-finals and final will take place on the 26th and 27th of February hosted by NUI Maynooth, while the Ulster Bank Fitzgibbon Cup will be hosted by NUI Galway on the 5th and 6th of March.
Most Read Stories
