Fine margins undo Munster title charge

Lucy McKee led Ulster’s goal rush as the northern province got the eight-goal margin they needed against South East to win the U21 interpros on goal difference at Lisnagarvey yesterday. Leinster had completed their campaign with three wins and a 1-1 draw against Ulster, and their favourable goal difference left Ulster needing eight in their final clash with South East. Although they had potted six of those goals by the 27-minute mark, they were forced to dig deep. Vanessa Surgeoner’s corner bash got them within range with 20 minutes to go and 10 minutes from time, Lurgan striker McKee capped a superb performance with a stunning effort — her fifth goal of the game — to edge out Leinster.

It was a campaign of what might have been for third-placed Munster, who began on Saturday with a 7-1 demolition of South East following a long, chaotic delay due to frozen pitches that saw some games moved to Banbridge’s Havelock Park and Belfast Harlequins’ Deramore Park. This was a win made in north Munster, with Limerick’s Katie Campbell and Clare’s Naomi Carroll scoring twice each, while Antonia McGrath of Tipperary also found the target with Cork natives Steph Peters and skipper Yvonne O’Byrne adding the others. More chaos reigned on the Sunday with most teams forced to squeeze three games into one day, with the Munster ladies not returning to Cork until the early hours of the morning, prior to their onward journeys. Malcolm Coombes’ charges went down 2-0 to Ulster and 2-1 to Leinster to end their title hopes, although they did finish strongly as Carroll’s double and one from UCC starlet Kate Humphreys secured a 3-0 success against Connacht. Meanwhile, Irish senior international Shane O’Donoghue proved the difference as his second hat-trick of the tournament secured glory in the men’s U21 interpros for Lenister. Ulster looked to be heading for a first crown since 2009 as they saw off a hapless Munster 9-1 and were leading 2-1 against a lacklustre Leinster with 20 minutes to go. But two O’Donoghue corner bullets in the final nine minutes did the job for the blues, who completed a 3-2 success to take the title. It was a tournament to forget for a young Munster side, who lost the wooden spoon clash 3-1 to Ireland U18s with Cork C of I’s Simon Wolfe scoring the clincher against his native province, as well as going down 6-1 to Leinster on Friday night. Shrew Power, Greg Chambers and David Treacy were on target for Neil Welch’s side. U21 Interprovincials, Lisnagarvey Men: Ireland U18 1 (K Mullins) Ulster 4 (M Allister, O Magee, C Roberts, J Moffett), Leinster 6 (S O’Donoghue 3, S McKeever, R Canning, A Shekleton) Munster 1 (S Power), Ulster 9 (S Dowds 4, W Edgar 2, C Roberts, J Moffett, R Millar) Munster 1 (G Chambers), Leinster 5 (R Canning 2, S Madeley, J Duncan, S O’Donoghue) Ireland U18 3 (H Morris, J Lorimer, S Wolfe), Leinster 3 (S O’Donoghue 3) Ulster 2 (S Dowds, H McShane), Ireland U18 3 (M Robson, B O’Malley, S Wolfe) Munster 1 (D Treacy). Standings: 1 Leinster 9pts (+8), 2 Ulster 6 (+10), 3 Ireland U18 0 (-4), 4 Munster 0 (-14). Women: Ulster 2 (L McKee, K McDonald) Munster 0, South East 1 (S Rush) Munster 7 (N Carroll 2, K Campbell 2, A McGrath, S Peters, Y O’Byrne), Leinster 5 (E Hinkson 2, E Beatty 2, A Naughton) Connacht 0, Leinster 6 (S Robinson 2, E Hinkson, C Baker, K Lloyd, L Pinder) South East 0, Leinster 2 (K Lloyd, A Naughton) Munster 1 (own goal), Ulster 3 (C Brown, L McKee, J Allison) Connacht 0, Ulster 1 (C Brown) Leinster 1 (E Beatty), Connacht 2 (own goal, K Codyre) South East 0, Ulster 8 (L McKee 5, V Surgeoner 2, J Allison) South East 0, Munster 3 (N Carroll 2, K Humphreys) Connacht 0. Standings: 1 Ulster 10pts (+13), 2 Leinster 10 (+12), 3 Munster 6 (+6), 4 Connacht 3 (-9), 5 South East 0 (-22).