Munster survived a late Connacht comeback at storm-torn Portstewart yesterday to stay on course for another victory in the men's Senior Interprovincial Championship. The holders, looking for a hat-trick and their fifth success in six years, squeezed out the westerners by two points after laying the foundations with a sweeping 4-1 win in the morning foursomes.
Leinster also withstood a tremendous fightback by Ulster in the singles after building what seemed an unassailable lead in taking three of the four foursomes and halving the other. The key figure for Munster was 22-year-old Dublin woodwork teacher Paul Byrne who brought in the vital point which pushed the holders out of Connacht's reach.
John Morris and Irish champion Eddie Power won the top two singles beating former national champion Ken Kearney and Walker Cup panellist David Dunne. Connacht then halved three of the next four matches leaving the issue on a knife edge with Pat Killeen the only winner in four as he pushed aside Alan Thomas by 5 and 4.
Byrne, a former Irish youth champion from Nenagh but now playing out of Portmarnock, holed from 20 feet as his opponent Andrew Lynch, an undergraduate at Stirling University, missed from six on the 12th green and then stormed ahead to win the long 13th and short 15th, where he rolled home a 15-footer to leap three holes up.
He seemed to be coasting but Lynch hit back to win the 16th in par and the 17th with a birdie three from six feet, yet Byrne held his nerve to halve the last hole for a one hole win.
When Gary Cullen beat North of Ireland champion Paddy Gribben by one hole and Eamon Brady carved out a 2 and 1 win over Garth McGimpsey, it looked as if Leinster were going to beat Ulster by a large margin.
It was teenager Michael Hoey, the Irish Open champion, who sparked off the late Ulster revival.
Munster 7 1/2 Connacht 5 1/2
Foursomes: E Power and J Morris bt D Dunne and C Moriarty 3 and 2; P Lyons and K Bornemann bt D Mortimer and P Killeen one hole; P Byrne and A Thomas lost to S Heavey and K Kearney one hole; T Cleary and G O'Flaherty bt S Horkan and A Lynch 2 and 1 (Munster 3, Connacht 1).
Singles: Morris bt Kearney 2 and 1; Power bt Dunne 3 and 1; Bornemann halved with T Ford; T Rice halved with N Howley; Thomas lost to Killeen 5 and 4; G Vaughan halved with Moriarty; Byrne bt Lynch one hole; Lyons lost to Mortimer 2 and 1; O Flaherty lost to Horkan 2 and 1 (Munster 4 1/2, Connacht 4 1/2).
Ulster 6, Leinster 7
Foursomes: G McGimpsey and C McMonagle lost to E Brady and A Morrow one hole; M Hoey and C Devlin halved with G Cullen and L Dalton; P Gribben and A McCormick lost to D Coyle and B Ronan one hole; S Paul and R Elliott lost to N Fox and A Murray 2 and 1 (Ulster 1/2, Leinster 31/2). Singles: Gribben lost to Cullen one hole; McGimpsey lost to Brady 2 and 1; Hoey bt Fox 2 holes; McMonagle bt Morrow 2 holes; McCormick bt Dalton 1 hole; Devlin bt Coyle 3 and 2; Paul bt Ronan 3 and 1; Elliott halved with Murray; M Sinclair lost to D Snow 5 and 4 (Ulster 5 1/2, Leinster 3 1/2).
