Munster make waves at boys interpros

A schoolboys interpro campaign full of twists and turns ultimately ended in victories for Leinster (U18) and Ulster (U16) at Garryduff, but Munster can take plenty of heart from some of their best performances at this level in the past five years. The U18s ousted Ulster to take second place, largely thanks to a win and a draw over the northern province that will live long in the memory for a variety of reasons. They fell behind to a Michael Robson strike early on in Friday afternoon’s clash, but didn’t leave it long to pull level after a disguised short corner switch attracted both the Ulster runners and left Simon Wolfe the time to blast one home to the bottom corner.

It stayed that way until early in the second half, when co-captain Gary Wilkinson popped a corner rebound over the grounded Ulster goalkeeper for 2-1. And Munster were in dreamland when Clyde Buttimer finished off at the back post, forcing the ball home after Alex Burns had burned off five Ulster tacklers on a virtuoso 70-metre run. Munster lived dangerously in the final minutes – Ulster saw one shot strike the inside of the post, fly across the front of goal and away to safety – but their keeper was also called on to make an outrageous save, tipping David Cardy’s goal-bound tracer over the bar after Munster had moved the ball around him. 3-1 it finished, providing the hosts the platform to take on Leinster in their second game later that day. Two lapses in concentration ultimately cost them in a 2-0 defeat, Jack Ryan profiting at either end of the second half to score the vital strikes for the visitors – both from well-worked passing moves – in a very even contest. Ian Gibson went closest amid a host of crash balls that just missed Munster sticks in the circle, connecting with Simon Wolfe’s hard pass but seeing his effort slip the wrong side of the upright as the hosts hunted an equaliser. Leinster put themselves in the driving seat when a Lee Cole drag and a Mark Loughrey deflection bettered Johnny McKee’s late reverse-stick effort in a 2-1 win for the champions on Saturday morning. That left Munster and Ulster fighting for their lives in game two, and the southern province came out of the blocks quickest. Wolfe took a pass across his body and blasted back across the keeper for a 1-0 half-time lead. Wilkinson then netted a special effort, taking down an overhead one-handed without breaking stride at full tilt, before skinning the Ulster centre-backs. The Ireland U18 hitman’s final shot was somewhat duffed but had enough on it to find the bottom corner.

Munster kept the pressure on; David Whitaker’s drag was tipped onto the post and that let-off proved a turning point for the northern boys. Ulster came streaming back and were unlucky to see a short corner goal initially given before being overturned on the first-shot-backboard rule. A second, looping effort from IHA U18 Player of the Year James Lorimer did find the backboard though to setup a grandstand finale. Daniel Moore had already made a plethora of excellent saves to keep Ulster at bay when he went to shepherd out a seemingly innocent raised crash ball from halfway. But the ball dipped and stuck the base of the post before rebounding into the goal off an unsighted Moore’s foot, the new own goal rule proving Munster’s undoing. That 2-2 draw left Munster relying on Ulster to do them a favour against Leinster on Sunday morning, but Gareth Borland’s Leinster men wrapped up a 3-0 win to guarantee themselves the title and ensure Munster finished second. The day’s final clash was therefore a dead rubber, with Munster coach Andrew Gray making five changes to his starting line-up.  Lee Cole forced a drag home from Leinster’s only corner of a tight first half for a 1-0 half-time advantage, Munster competing well but lacking the attacking accuracy of previous games. A third phase corner rebound from Stuart Ronan put Leinster in the driving seat before Munster gifted a second goal to Ronan, passing him the ball out of defence and allowing the Wesley man an unopposed run to the circle before he clung a reverse past Peter Coulter in the Munster goal. Cole and Cillian Hynes added a gloss to the scoreline as Munster heads dropped, and finishing off the tournament in style for Leinster, who claimed a 100% record. Meanwhile, bar one half to forget against Leinster, there were positives for Munster U16 coach John Hobbs to take as a relatively new-look outfit competed well. They began with a 0-0 draw against Ulster that owed a lot to the excellence of Jack Ryan between the posts and good use of the ball from Alex Deane and Luke Kingston at the back, as well as the continued industry of the Jennings twins, Matthew and David, in midfield. They were, unfortunately, unable to build on that as tired legs and minds couple with a razor-sharp Leinster attack left them staring down an 8-1 defeat.

Jordan Larmour and David Nolan ran the show for a rampant Leinster in the first half as they racked up six unanswered goals, before Munster tightened up in the second half, Declan Murphy netting a corner goal as they beared some attacking teeth too. Munster reverted to type against Ulster on Saturday, always endeavouring to move the ball and play patient hockey but were undone 2-0 as the northerners – buoyed by a surprise 3-0 destruction of Leinster earlier in the day –  found an extra gear to overcome their tiredness. That wasn’t without controversy though; Ulster rammed home a loose ball 15 seconds into the game as two stick tackles on Munster players attempting to clear went unpunished. Jack O’Mahony put in an excellent shift up front, as he did all tournament, but to no avail on the scoreboard. The local boys had one final shot at Leinster in a final attempt to get an elusive win, Robert Locke starring in the pads while Deane and again mopped up well at the back and Luke Kingston – sent into centre midfield on a man-marking mission – had a fine game defensively. But having dinged the crossbar and seen Brian Stockil pull a goalbound shot out of the air, Leinster eventually worked Rory Nicholls into a positing to score from close range for a slender lead at the break. Monkstown tyro Guy Sarratt then gave them breathing space in the second half, the game finishing up 2-0. With the majority of the panel in their first year at this level, Munster can take heart from again being competitive in the majority of their games, a far cry from the thrashings endured at schoolboy interpros in recent seasons. *Ondine Roche’s pictures will be added to Irish Hockey Photographers in due course. In the meantime, Andrew McKibbin took some superb pictures on all three days of the tournament which can be seen on Facebook here. Schoolboy Interprovincial Championships, Garryduff, Cork U16: Munster 0 Ulster 0; Leinster 8 (J Larmour 3, D Nolan 2, F Morris 2, G Cole) Munster 1 (Declan Murphy); Leinster 0 Ulster 3 (own goal, C Robson, A Martin); Ulster 2 Munster 0; Ulster 2 Leinster 2; Leinster 2 (R Nicholls, G Sarratt) Munster 0. Standings: 1. Ulster 9pts (+2) 2. Leinster 6pts (+6) 3. Munster 1pt (-8) U18: Munster 3 (S Wolfe, G Wilkinson, C Buttimer) Ulster 1 (M Robson); Munster 0 Leinster 2 (J Ryan 2); Munster 2 (S Wolfe, G Wilkinson) Ulster 2 (J Lorimer, own goal); Leinster 2 (L Cole, M Loughrey) Ulster 1 (J McKee); Leinster 3 (K Mullins, B Campbell, S Ronan) Ulster 0; Leinster 5 (L Cole 2, S Ronan 2, C Hynes) Munster 0. Standings: 1. Leinster 12pts (+11) 2. Munster 5pts (-5) 3. Ulster (4) 2pts (-6) FULL DISCLOSURE: Southern Fried Hockey has a vested interest in this tournament, with this writer acting as manager of the Munster U18s. I have attempted to write this account as neutrally as possible in the circumstances, while also focusing primarily on the Munster sides as is generally consistent with the site’s readership.