There were big wins for Waterford IT and Limerick IT in round 1 of the Ulster Bank Fitzgibbon Cup.

LIT registered a huge 3-14 to 1-6 victory over UCC at Mardyke, where Galway star Joe Canning scored a match-winning 3-8 to help send his team into the next round.

All three of the Portumna man's goal came in the opening 30 minutes, as the Limerick students took in an unassailable 3-7 to 0-3 lead at the half-time interval.

Early on in the restart Canning out the issue beyond any doubt when he fired over a quick brace of points before UCC got themselves a consolation goal in the 39th minute when full-forward Eoin Murphy found hit the back of LIT's net.

Shane Burke also fired over some good points for the Cork outfit, but there was no coming back as Canning already had the damage done.

UCD staged a thrilling comeback to edge out CIT by 0-10 to 0-8 and book their place into the next round.

After trailing by 0-5 to 0-2 at the break, the signs were even more ominous for UCD when their opponents took a 0-8 to 0-4 lead with Patrick Horgan and Adrian Mannix causing them problems.

However, the Dublin students timed their finish to perfection, as the superb David O'Callaghan was assisted by John O'Loughlin, Liam Rushe (2) and Joseph Boland (2) in firing over the points in the final quarter to sink CIT.

At Ballygunner, WIT scored a massive 2-16 to 1-5 win over GMIT, with their lethal full-forward line combining for 2-13 of their team's tally.

The winners had only led at the break by 1-7 to 1-4 thanks to Kieran Grehan cancelling Ronan Madden's goal with a late first-half strike, but in the second-half they totally blitzed the Galway side.

'Man of the Match' Timmy Hammersley bagged the hosts second goal to help finish with 1-7 for the day and along with Grehan and Ray McLoughney they set about tearing their opponents to shreds for the rest of the afternoon.

There was better news for NUIG, who earned a 0-12 to 1-8 victory over DIT at Dagan, where team captain Finian Coone converted a last minute winner.

The Galway students raced out of the traps early on to take a 0-4 to nothing lead and they would go on to lead by 0-9 to 0-3 at half-time as Coone and John Lee showed some great accuracy.
In the second-half, DIT fought their way back into things with Kilkenny's Willie O'Dwyer hitting the forefront and when a long ball from David Treacy presented Paul Ryan with the opportunity to net and level the game, the Dublin star made no mistake.

Both sides went hell for leather in the closing stages, desperate for a score, but Coone was to be the hero as his last minute free sent NUIG into the next stages.

At Drumcondra, goals made the difference as UL registered a 3-9 to 0-10 triumph over hosts St Pat's to make their way through to the second round.

It was the home side that got off to the better start as centre-forward Marcus O hAitrigin raised some early white flags before Thomas Connors scored a vital goal and Shane Dooley did likewise to hep UL into a 2-3 to 0-7 lead at the break.

Crucially, UL set their tone straight after the restart and another major from Matt Ruth nine minutes from the final whistle gave them a five-point lead which they added to via points which would see them through.

Ulster Bank Fitzgibbon Cup Round 1

Waterford IT 2-16 GMIT 1-5

Limerick IT 3-14 UCC 1-6

NUIG 0-12 Dublin IT 1-8

UL 3-9 St Pats TC 0-10

UCD 0-10 Cork IT 0-8 Tweet

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