Joe Canning gave a masterclass in finishing as his Limerick IT side skipped to a 2-15 to 0-13 win over NUIG in a heartwarming Fitzgibbon Cup decider at Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow. Canning replicated his showing in last Friday's semi-final when he grabbed a superb 1-8 to see off an NUIG side for whom John Lee was crowned man of the match. Canning's 33rd minute goal was ultimately the one that gave the Limerick side the cushion to go on and keep NUIG at bay. NUIG's cause wasn't helped by the dismissal of goalkeeper David Woods who saw red after an incident with Canning as the Portumna clubman notched his penultimate point in the 57th minute. By that stage though it was in the bag for LIT with only the accuracy of Tipp's Darragh Egan, with seven frees, keeping NUIG in the running. NUIG suffered a blow in first half injury time when David Kenny was hauled down by Limerick IT 'keeper James Skehill but NUIG missed the resultant penalty. Earlier LIT had edged into the lead thanks in part to a goal by Aonghus Callanan which helped them into a 1-5 to 0-5 advantage at the interval. Canning weighed in with three early points and Iarlaith Tannion and James McInerney also made the mark as the tempo of the game increased significantly. Three Egan frees served to help keep NUIG's hopes alive but the missed penalty helped to knock the stuffing out of them. Canning added salt to the NUIG wound by netting from close range which helped catapult LIT into a 2-6 to 0-5 lead and five more Canning points along with scores from Austin Murphy and captain Kieran Murphy sealed NUIG's fate and presented LIT with their second Fitzgibbon Cup win since 2005. Limerick IT: J Skehill; M Walsh, J Tyrrell, A Byrne; S McGrath, C O'Mahony, M O'Brien; J Clancy, K Murphy; E Cadigan (B Gaffney ht 0-2), A Murphy 0-2, I Tannain 0-1; A Callanan 1-1, J Canning 1-8 (4f), J McInerney 0-1. NUIG: D Woods; R Whyte, M Ryan (P Kennedy 52), L Geraghty; J Dunphy, J Lee, E Barrett; C Ryan 0-1 (s/l), S Molumphy; P O'Brien 0-1 (V Faherty h/t 0-1), D Barrett 0-1, F Coone 0-1; D Kenny, D Egan 0-7 (3f), S Glynn Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath) Tweet

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