The 2017 Ladies Higher Education Committee O’Connor Cup will take place this weekend and will be hosted by the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. 2017 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Higher Education Committee competitions and to celebrate all 6 of the HEC competitions will be hosted together for the first time as the Lagan, Donaghy, Moynihan, Lynch, Giles and O’Connor Cups will take place between Friday and Sunday with the O’Connor and Giles Cup Finals to take place at Elvery’s McHale Park.
The Colleges competitions will get underway on Friday as the semi finals of the Lagan, Donaghy and Moynihan Cups all take place with the semi finals of the Lynch, Giles and O’Connor Cups taking place on Saturday, March 11th.
The O’Connor Cup final will also be televised by TG4 as it takes place at Elvery’s McHale Park. University College Dublin will hope to make it a second O’Connor Cup title in a row as they hope to repeat their somewhat surprising 2016 triumph. UCD will have a difficult opening to their campaign as they are set to face a UCC side that are back-boned by several of the All Ireland Champion Cork team including sharp shooter Doireann O’Sullivan and All Star Marie Ambrose. DCU will return to the O’Connor Cup after several frustrating years with a very strong side that will include Dublin star Siobhan Woods, Mayo’s Sarah Rowe and Tipperary’s rising star Aishling Moloney. UL will be the semi final opposition for DCU as the Limerick College look to regain the trophy that they last claimed in 2015 before suffering defeat to UCD in last year’s decider, they will look to stars like Kerry’s Laura Rogers and Eimear Scally from Cork. Should UL and UCD progress through to the decider it would be a repeat of the 2016 final and it would again see twin sisters, Nicola and Louise Ward, in opposition.
Updates from the O’Connor Cup will be available through the LGFA Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram accounts using the hashtag #OCCup2017
2017 Ladies HEC O’Connor Cup Weekend Fixtures
Friday, March 10th
Lagan Cup
11:00am Semi Final 1 GMIT v Cavan Institute, Centre of Excellence (G. McMahon)
1:00pm Semi Final 2 UUC v St. Pat’s Thurles, Centre of Excellence (K. Corcan)
Donaghy Cup
3:00pm Semi Final 1 Marino v St. Pats 2, Centre of Excellence (G. McMahon)
5:00pm Semi Final 2 RCSI v IT Tallaght, Centre of Excellence (IT Tallaght)
Moynihan Cup
4:00pm Semi Final 1 DCU3 v UCD3, Castlebar Mitchell’s (K. Delahunty)
4:00pm Semi Final 2 IT Blanch v MU2, Castlebar Mitchell’s (G. Chapman)
Saturday, March 11th
Lynch Cup
11:00am Semi Final 1 WIT v UUJ, Centre of Excellence (G. Carmody)
11:00am Semi Final 2 UCD2 v DIT, Centre of Excellence (N. McCormack)
Lagan Cup Final
12:00pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Centre of Excellence
Giles Cup
1:00pm Semi Final 1 DCU2 v MICL, Centre of Excellence (J. Niland)
3:00pm Semi Final 2 TCD v MICL, Centre of Excellence (K. Delahunty)
O’Connor Cup
1:00pm Semi Final 1 UL v DCU, Centre of Excellence (S. McNulty)
3:00pm Semi Final 2 UCD v UCC, Centre of Excellence (M. Farrelly)
Donaghy Cup Final
3:45pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Castlebar Mitchell’s
Moynihan Cup Final
5:00pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Castlebar Mitchell’s
Sunday, March 12th
Lynch Cup Final
11:45pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Castlebar Mitchell’s
Giles Cup Final
1:45pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Elvery’s McHale Park
O’Connor Cup Final
4:00pm Final Winner Semi Final 1 v Winner Semi Final 2, Elvery’s McHale Park
