Some finish to the game.
Two late scores from Gary Cooney secured a thrilling 1-20 to 2-16 win for Mary Immaculate over NUIG as the reigning Fitzgibbon Cup champions booked their place in the quarter-final.
With NUIG edging it 2-16 to 1-18 going into injury time, Cooney scored twice to clinch a dramatic last-gasp win for Jamie Wall’s.
Two second-half goals from Conor Whelan had put NUIG in the driving seat but it wasn’t enough in the end as the 2017 winners progressed to the last eight while sending the visitors out in heartbreaking fashion.
Colin Guilfoyle reacted quickest to Cian Lynch’s rebounded effort to score the first goal but it was an absorbing ding-dong battle from there on in as both sides went all out for the win.
Winners alright 👏@MICLimerick 1-20 to @nuiggaa1 2-16. Well done @Jamwall7 and all the team. Quarter finals here we come
— Mary Immaculate College (MIC) (@MICLimerick) February 1, 2018
Mary I led 1-10 to 0-08 at half-time, with Darragh Burke and Aaron Gillane scoring from frees, but a spirited display from the Galway side allowed for a nail-biting climax. Whelan’s first goal came when he latched on to a loose ball before confidently burying it beyond Eoghan Cahill.
Gillane quickly levelled the score before Pa Ryan got the hosts in front. Padraic Mannion equalised for NUIG before Whelan’s second goal put NUIG in the ascendancy. But, with Gillane scoring a free and a 65, it left the game delicately poised going into injury time. Then, two points from Cooney in as many minutes secured a thrilling win for Mary I to fire the holders into the quarter-final at the end of a fiercely fought affair.
