Athlone IT to face IT Carlow in Sigerson Cup
By Kieran Galvin Athlone IT have been drawn at home to IT Carlow in the opening round of the 2013 Irish Daily Mail Sigerson Cup. Local interest in the 2013 Sigerson Cup has been heightened by the fact that the semi-finals and final will be hosted by Athlone IT on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. The concluding stages of this long-established competition, often termed 'the Sigerson weekend', will offer a treat of top class football to local GAA fans. With Athlone IT having the honour of hosting the concluding stages for the first time, Athlone's main target will be to reach the last four. Should Martin McCabe's side overcome Carlow, they will face Cork IT or GMIT (Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology) in the quarter-finals. Westmeath players Gary Connaughton, Ger Egan, James Dolan and Kieran Martin will be hoping to play key roles for AIT, while Clann na nGael's Cathal Shine is also part of the squad. The holders of the Sigerson Cup are DCU, who were captained to success earlier this year by Westmeath's Kieran Gavin. The Mullingar Shamrocks player became the first Westmeath to captain a Sigerson Cup winning team. In the 2013 competition, DCU have been drawn in the preliminary round against UL and the winners will meet Queen's University, Belfast in Round 1. The old rivalry between Trinity and UCD will have another instalment in Round 1. UCD will be expected to come out on top in this battle between two of Ireland's most esteemed educational establishments. Sigerson Cup 2013 Preliminary Round - Jan 29th/ 30th 2013 (First team named has home advantage) (A) UL v DCU Round 1 - Jan 29th/ 30th; Feb 5th/6th 2013 (First team named has home advantage) (B) Athlone IT v IT Carlow (C) Cork IT v GMIT (D) UCC v UUJ (E) IT Tralee v St Mary's Belfast (F) UL / DCU v QUB (G) Trinity v UCD (H) NUIG v DIT (I) IT Sligo v NUI Maynooth Quarter-Finals - 13.02.13/14.02.13 (First team named has home advantage) (J) B v C (K) D v E (L) F v G (M) H v I Semi Finals -22.02.13 - Athlone IT J v K L v M Final - 23.02.13 - Athlone IT