After an unexpected delay, the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup kicked into gear on Friday evening, with five games getting this year's tournament fully underway.
A full programme of fixtures had been scheduled across Tuesday and Wednesday evening but, with the nationwide cold snap wreaking havoc, only one game went ahead as planned on Tuesday.
The vast majority of Tuesday and Wednesday's games were pushed back to Friday evening, with some venue changes required to ensure round one could be completed.
Among the programme of games on Friday were a shock defeat for the 2022 champions University of Galway, as well as a tough return to Sigerson action for MTU Kerry.
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Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup: Round one roundup
Defending champions Ulster University got their Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday night, and the chasing pack finally got their chance to make a statement on Friday.
The biggest statement came from TU Dublin, who took a massive win over University of Galway in Grangegorman.
The Galway side have won this competition 22 times, most recently in 2022, but it was the minnows who came out on top in a low-scoring, hard-fought game in Dublin.
Leading 0-4 to 0-2 at half-time, University of Galway would only score once in the second half, as an inspired TUD comeback saw them take a 0-8 to 0-5 victory - thanks in no small part to 0-4 from the boot of Meath's Jordan Morris.
10 January 2025; Greg McEnaney of DCU Dóchas Éireann in action against Donagh Buckley and Eddie Healy, 8, of MTU Kerry during the Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Sigerson Cup Round 1 match between DCU Dóchas Éireann and MTU Kerry at DCU Sportsgrounds in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Elsewhere, it was a tough night for MTU Kerry on their return to Sigerson Cup action.
A trip to face DCU Dóchas Éireann was always going to be a challenging task to get their campaign underway and so it proved, with the Dublin side running out comfortable winners.
Goals from Dublin's Greg McEnaney and Kildare's Niall Dolan either side of half-time had DCU cruising to victory. Ultimately, it was a bruising 2-22 to 0-11 defeat for the Trench Cup holders from Kerry, who were outclassed on DCU campus.
There was another big win for UL, who took a 13-point victory against ATU Galway, in a game moved to Limerick from Galway due to the weather conditions. Home advantage evidently worked in University of Limerick's favour, with an impressive scoreline of 3-17 to 1-10 announcing their intentions in this competition.
Friday's other games saw UCD defeat UCC by 0-12 to 0-7 in Enniscorthy, while Abbotstown played host as MTU Cork defeated ATU Donegal 1-10 to 0-6.
The final two games of round one will be played this weekend. TUS Midlands face Maynooth University on Saturday, with throw-in at 7:15pm, while St. Mary's and Queens will face off at 2pm on Sunday.
