NUIG, DIT and IT Carlow are through to the third round of the Sigerson Cup following their respective backdoor victories tonight.
All beaten sides from round 1, they join IT Tralee, who made light work of IT Sligo earlier today, in the last twelve.
Having been edged out by St Marys on frees seven days ago, 2018 runners-up NUIG made amends with a hard-earned 1-8 to 1-7 victory over hosts Queens at The Dub.
A 17th minute goal from midfielder Cein Darcy had the visitors 1-2 to 0-0 in front, however, Queens battled back with efforts from James McMahon and Callum O'Neill to leave just one between the sides at the break, 1-3 to 0-5.
Five minutes after the restart, Armagh starlet O'Neill buried to the net to make it 1-5 to 1-3 in favour of the Belfast students before two Peter Cooke points levelled matters.
A further brace from Cooke and one from the outstanding Kieran Molloy were enough to see NUIG progress to a meeting with Garda College next week.
Coming off the back of a 36-point hammering from UCC (the biggest ever margin of defeat in Sigerson Cup history), Athlone IT had to endure another difficult night away when going down to 14-man DIT on a 4-14 to 2-8 scoreline at Grangegorman.
Despite having Luke Loughlin sent off, goals from Oisin Lynch (2), Sean Flanagan and James Conlon helped secured the win for Brian Flanagan's outfit who set up a Dublin derby with UCD.
Gio Russo netted a penalty for the midlanders early in the second-half but trailing by 2-7 to 2-2 at half-time, they were unable to make any inroads on the scoreboard.
Finally, IT Carlow ran out comfortable winners against Cork IT on home turf, winning by 0-18 to 0-12.
Cork sharpshooter Michael Hurley posted 0-12 for the winners who led 0-9 to 0-6 at the half-way stage
Their reward is a date with UL next week.
NUIG - A Brady; S Brennan, S Mulkerrin, K McDonnell; K Molloy (0-1), R Greene, P O'Donnell; P Cooke (0-4, 2f), C Darcy (1-0); N Mullen (0-1), B Donovan, E Tierney; R Finnerty (0-1f), J Robinson, O Gallagher (0-1). Subs: J Maher for B Donovan, G Canavan for R Finnerty, K Quinn for J Robinson.
Queens - A Hasson; C McCloskey (0-1), O Lappin, N Keenan; N Rafferty, D McKeever, J McCann; R Campbell, B Crealey; C O'Neill (1-1), R Treanor (0-1f), D Guinness (0-1); J McAuley, J Smith, J McMahon (0-1). Subs: P O'Connor for B Crealey, C Martin (0-2, 1f) for R Treanor, K Hughes for J Smith.
Referee - M McNally.
**
DIT - M Jackson (0-1'45); J McCusker, B Power, A McGowan; D Toner, R O'Brien, L Hughes; S Flanagan (1-1), S Hurley; C Pearson, R O'Toole (0-2), B Howard; L Loughlin (0-1), O Lynch (2-2), J Conlon (1-4). Subs: T Keane (0-3) for C Pearson, K O'Gara for R O'Toole, R Finn for S Flanagan, S Tully for S Hurley, F O'Shea for B Howard.
Athlone IT - C Haslam; D Healy, A Cregg, D Carroll; G Horan (1-0), E O'Connor, E Tully; K Maguire, T Watts; R Forde (0-4, 3f), G Russo (1-0pen), D McManus; R Brady (0-1), B Berry (0-2), S Clarke. Subs: C O'Dea (0-1) for R Brady, E Gallagher for S Clarke.
Referee - S Mulhare.
**
IT Carlow - D Campbell; J Mitchell, R Hitchcock, J Casey; C O'Toole, E Buggie, B Carr (0-1); T Griffin, N Hughes; P O'Toole, N Doyle, D O'Sullivan (0-1); N Gately (0-1), M Hurley (0-12, 6f), J Walsh. Subs: S Ryan for T Griffin, D Whelan (0-3) for J Walsh, S Maughan for N Doyle, S Crowley for B Carr, D Lawler for M Hurley.
Cork IT - C Kelly; M Lordan, A Browne (0-1), S Howard; N Donohue, E Lavers, B Sugrue; P Walsh, K O'Hanlon (0-1); R Walsh (0-1), D Dineen (0-2), K O'Donovan; D O'Sullivan (0-2, 1f), J Crean (0-2), M Bradley (0-2). Subs: A Casey for C Kelly, S Walsh (0-1) for M Lordan, B Hodnett for K O'Donovan, G O'Brien for R Walsh, B Hyland for D O'Sullivan.
Referee - A Nolan.
Wednesday 30 January
Sigerson Cup round 3
St Marys v IT Tralee
Garda v NUIG
UCD v DIT
UL v IT Carlow
Wednesday 6 February
Sigerson Cup quarter-finals
Maynooth University v St Marys or IT Tralee
UU v Garda or NUIG
DCU v UCD or DIT
UCC v UL or IT Carlow