Quotes From The 2002 Fitzgibbon Weekend

By Barry Duggan

The smile etched across Ollie Moran’s face at the final whistle said it all. University of Limerick had captured the Fitzgibbon Cup in his first year in charge. Moran’s delight was obvious to all after the game.

Moran expressed his thoughts to the Echo after the game .“This is absolutely brilliant, we’ve had to work so hard to achieve this, but it was worth it in the end. I’m delighted for all the players. There is great self-belief in this panel; it is the hallmark of this squad. At the start of the year we had to convince the panel of players that they were good enough to win it and they have responded magnificently whenever asked to do so.”

“The nature of the Fitzgibbon is that it is a fierce strong competition. Perhaps Waterford were at a disadvantage after Saturday’s semi-final when they were not really tested. We might have been stronger in that department, but they tested us all the way. When the game was in the melting pot, the players really dug deep, that could be seen in the last 5 minutes. They pulled out some excellent scores, but that is the character of this side. I’m especially delighted for my younger brother Niall, who gave a big performance out there today. Today was a great team performance.”

UL captain Eoin Fitzgerald was equally as joyful. It’s phenomenal what we went through this year. We had a really tough campaign. We beat Trinity, the Guards, NUI Galway, UCC and now Waterford. We really had to work hard to deserve this honour. The players owe it all to our mentors Ollie Moran and Eamonn Meskill. What they have done in such a short space of time is incredible and they deserve this equally as much as the players” concluded Fitzgerald.