Congratulations to the UCC Bombers Aussie Rules club after an epic victory in Oxford, on Saturday last, in the Fitzpatrick Cup 2020.
10 male teams travelled to Oxford, 4 of these from Cork. UCC travelled with two teams and CIT also. Two pools of 5 teams and no semi finals so teams knew they had to win their pool to get to the final.
CIT 1’s had 3 victories and then played Birmingham in what was effectively a semi final in their pool but came up short and ultimately finished 4th in the comp. No doubt they will be back stronger and better in years to come as their club is on the up!
CIT were tight for numbers after some late withdrawals so it was always going to be tough for them considering the length of the day competition.
UCC 2’s had nearly 16 guys playing in their first Aussie Rules come so were inexperienced. It was this inexperience that cost them in their first game against the Danish outfit SDU. A learning curve no doubt. They had some great games thereafter. In particular the final pool game for Birmingham before they had to play their club members UCC 1’s in the final. They may have lost this game but they certainly won the mental battle. UCC 2’s finished up 7th in the comp but got noticeably better with each game played.
In UCC 1’s first game they were were playing Cardiff, a team ranked 10th (but only because they were new to comp). UCC were slow to get out of the blocks and initially were trailing. They got their act together and kicked on from their to win all four games in the pool.
The Grand Final was a tense one, with two fantastically skilled teams giving it their all. UCC took the lead early on with the help of a strong afternoon wind. Birmingham fought back hard in the second half and turned the tide. They were 7 points ahead with 4 minutes to go with the wind at their backs. But UCC, reigning champions, were not done yet. They found a gear they didn’t know they had and found a goal by captain James Daly to leave them trailing by 1 point. Next up was Harry Hynes to level the scores with a behind. And with only seconds to go new comer Kieran O’Reilly (who had popped his shoulder earlier in the day) scored an unforgettable goal that will live long in the memory. UCC winning 5-3 (33) to 4-3 (27) over Birmingham. An epic game and victory that made the result all the sweeter.
CIT2 Scores:
CIT2 (8) v Oxford 1 (44)
CIT2 (7) v Cambridge (36)
CIT2 14) v Cardiff Met (17)
CIT2 (14) v CIT1 (58)
CIT2 (33) v Oxford 2 (17)
CIT1 Scores:
CIT1 (37) v Oxford 2 (15)
CIT1 (36) v UCC2 (4)
CIT1 (27) v SDU (8)
CIT1 (12) v Birmingham (28)
CIT1 (18) v Oxford 1 (27)
UCC2 Scores:
UCC (16) v SDU (20)
UCC2 (4) v CIT1 (36)
UCC2 (15) v Oxford 2 (12)
UCC2 (2) v Birmingham (28)
UCC2 (16) v Cardiff Met (15)
UCC1 Scores:
UCC1 (29) v Cardiff Met (21)
UCC1 (29) v Cambridge (12)
UCC1 (37) v Oxford 1 (10)
UCC1 (58) v CIT2 (14)
UCC1 (33) v Birmingham (27)