Tipp players to the fore in Mary I Fitzgibbon Cup win
By Tom Clancy
A leading light for Mary Immaculate College Limerick on route to a third ever Fitzgibbon Cup title on Saturday, Devon Ryan was somewhat lost for words shortly after his side got over the line against a formidable University of Limerick side.
“Speechless, it’s unbelievable”, claimed the Cashel King Cormacs clubman.
Ryan, the free-taker all year for Jamie Wall’s charges, was among a strong Tipperary contingent in the winners enclosure in Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry, along with Conor Hennessey (Nenagh Eire Og), Keith Ryan (Upperchurch-Drombane) and Joe Caesar (Holycross-Ballycahill) were prominent for the winners. Caesar was awarded Man-of-the-Match while it took late frees from Ryan and captain Colin O’Brien to seal the famous win.
James Devaney from Borris-Ileigh was ruled out through injury while there was more from the Premier in reserve. Mark Gennery (selector) enjoyed a busy Saturday. The Portroe man missed this clash in order to be in the same role for Nenagh CBS, who moved into a Croke Cup semi-final.
Devon Ryan, who has soldiered all season with the South Circular Road college credited the fight shown by his teammates.
“This is my third, final year with Mary I. We haven’t won a game the last two years, so to come in and go the whole way is unbelievable,” said the former Tipperary minor and under 20 player.
Ryan’s goal, part of a 1-4 contribution, was a scrambled finish after only eight minutes. This gave Mary Immaculate decent lead, with the wind at their backs.
“That first goal will be my claim to fame anyway,” Ryan laughed.
“Jason (Gillane) nailed the frees with the wind, we kept it simple, route one. We knew against the breeze (in the second half) that ball into Shane Meehan and Shane O’Brien would be better, and they’d do their stuff. We dug in and got it done.”
Much was made about the depth held by UL, who had Moyne-Templetuohy’s Gearoid O’Connor in their ranks as well as other inter-county talent in the form of Limerick duo Adam English & Colin Coughlan, and Clare’s Mark Rodgers. This was their chance at history, seeking their first three in a row, and the first for any side since UCC in 1998. However, Mary I didn’t read the script.
“We said at the start of the year, and we had no inter-county players so there was a couple of us who started today who played the whole way through the league,” Ryan revealed.
“It was massive to get a seed (from reaching a league semi-final), a lot of the panel players were the reason we got a one-point win over TUS in the League, going to Maynooth in a quarter-final and winning to get our seed. It showed because we avoided UL until the final and we knew if we got to the final we’d have a right rattle.”
Mary I manager Jamie Wall, who played in a Fitzgibbon final in 2013, has a strong affinity with this competition, and Ryan wasn’t short of praise for the Cork native.
“I don’t even know where to start with Jamie. He is a special, special man,” he said.
“I absolutely love him. I’ve never met a man so committed and so caring of all the boys. He knows the balance that is needed in college hurling, he lets us enjoy ourselves, but knows when to pull us back in. He is like one of our best friends, not a manger to us, but don’t get me wrong – he knows how to get us into line when he needs to. Nothing else I can say, only he’s a special, special man.”