Mary Immaculate 1-19 DIT 1-14

When the going got tough, Mary I got going.

Under the shrewd guidance of Jamie Wall, the Limerick teacher training college with a student body of no more than 3000 have always punched above their weight in the Fitzgibbon Cup and in 2019, the sleeves are up again and they're getting down to work. They faced a tricky task on Sunday evening in a rising DIT side in the first round of the 2019 renewal but like they often have over the last few years, they ground it out and they strode away when it mattered most. Wall's loyal lieutenant Aaron Gillane is still there and having made a name for himself over the last few years in Fitzgibbon hurling, he's still their difference maker. Thomas Monaghan is alongside him on the 40 and Clare's towering Colin Guilfoyle is another big, burly addition. These lads mean business. It was DIT who got off to the better start in this Grangegorman fare though. Skilful Dublin forward Eamonn Dillon was piling on the pressure up top and Eoghan Dunne was sniping away at the frees. An interesting part of the DIT set-up is their management team. Former Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity is the main man and he's helped by JJ Delaney as a selector. That man Dunne was on form in general play too and it was his goal which granted the Dublin men a 1-8 to 0-8 half-time lead. Mary I never lost touch though. Gillane was similarly accurate from placed balls while Darragh Peters, Craig Morgan and Luke Meade are three tidy operators in the middle third. They scored a goal straight after the resumption and that dragged them right back into it. With Dunne and Gillane going free for free at this stage, eventually it was a point from play from the main man Gillane that set the Limerick college away just after Offaly keeper Eoghan Cahill had made a fine save down the other end from Wexford forward Dunne. That would prove a turning point and then Mary I took off to win by five. Seeing as this is the only group with only three teams, DIT aren't out of the reckoning yet while Mary I are again looking good.