IT Sligo GAA Club hurlers are the Fergal Maher Cup champions for 2016 thanks to a highly impressive 4-12 to 0-13 win against GMIT Letterfrack at the Higher Education hurling finals weekend, played at Cork Institute of Technology.
The team, managed by Sligo senior hurling boss, Declan Loughnane, defeated St Mary’s University College, Belfast, in Friday’s semi-final. They then followed that up with another stirring display in Saturday’s final with man of the match Jack Galvin, a recent Sports Scholarship recipient at IT Sligo, scoring 3-6 of the Institute’s tally.
“It was one of those weekends when everything went according to plan,” said a delighted Declan afterwards. “We knew at the start of the year that we had a decent team but, between club commitments and injuries, we never managed to get all the players together during during the campaign.
“However, when we needed them, each man from goalkeeper to corner forward stepped up to the plate. Their workrate from start to finish was tremendous”.
Paying tribute to the hurlers success, IT Sligo GAA Club secretary Brian McCann said: “This is the Institute’s third hurling championship success but our first time to lift the Fergal Maher Cup.”
“We’re also very grateful to our sponsors AIB – and to the Friends of IT Sligo hurling group which comprises past players and students of the Institute,” he added.
“They played a key role in recent months in helping to raise important funds for the team in advance of the competition.”
Watch hightlights of IT Sligo’s Fergal Maher Cup success here
(courtesy of Higher Education GAA)
IT Sligo team:
Michael Carroll (Galway), Adrian Judge (Mayo), Ciaran Mangan (Dublin), Jack Dowling, Kilkenny, Conor Coyle (Roscommon), Gavin Butler (Kilkenny), Phil Reilly (Westmeath), Dean Flynn (Galway), Cathal Dolan (Roscommon), Johnny Bermingham (Westmeath), Damian Golden – Capt (Westmeath), Jack Galvin (Westmeath), Cathal Kenny (Roscommon), Pat Kiely (Mayo), Emmet Corrigan (Westmeath).
Photo caption:
IT Sligo hurling captain Damian Golden holds the Fergal Maher Cup alongside Man of the Match in the final, Jack Galvin.