Interprovincial SFC Final/ Leinster 2-14 Connacht 2-11: Connacht's long barren wait continues. In novel circumstances in Boston, Leinster produced a fine late goal to claim the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial cup yesterday afternoon.
A crowd of about 2,000 turned up in the pretty Irish Cultural field in the suburbs of South Boston to enjoy what felt like something more than an exhibition.
With the autumn weather and quaint ground and a series of bone-crunching challenges, this might have been a local league derby in the midlands - although there would have been fewer Irish Lobby For Immigration Reform banners and no rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
After chalking up an encouraging 1-1 in the first five minutes, Connacht went a worrying 23 minutes coping with the speed and strength of the Leinster squad. The Laois midfield pairing of Brendan Quigley and Padraig Clancy were in dominant form over the first quarter, while Conal Keaney and Joe Sheridan clipped wonderful points.
Quigley's time in Brisbane served him well and he drew several impressed gasps from the local crowd for the sheer aggression and power with which he attacks the high ball. But after a tough beginning, when he took some heavy punishment, Pat Harte warmed to the task of shadowing him.
Connacht's problems were illustrated by Leinster's 28th-minute point which began when Caoimhin King out-sprinted speed merchant Derek Savage to break up the westerner's attack. As Connacht retreated, Michael Ennis and King broke forward to support a swift attack which resulted in a Keaney point. That left Leinster 1-8 to 1-1 to the good.
Given that the half-time interludes were filled with nostalgic Irish ballads, the players decided to do their part for the pageantry of Eire by indulging in several harmless mellees/schemozzles during a surprisingly heated opening period. Mayo pair David Brady and David Heaney were collared for yellow cards when the athletes were separated.
The Leinster goal was probably the easiest that Mark Carpenter will ever score. The Louth man was poaching in the perfect position when Sheridan put Clancy through with a low, brilliant pass, and although the Laois man hammered his shot off the crossbar, Carpenter slapped the ball home.
With Leinster rolling happily, Connacht must have been fairly happy to see Conor Mortimer's tapped free take them into the break with a workable six-point deficit to deal with.
They introduced Kevin O'Neill and Karol Mannion at half-time and began to claw their way back into the match. Brady, in his inimitably bossy fashion, began to have a big bearing on things.
With the Mayo Mafia long established in Boston, the sight of Mortimer landing a fine point and then Heaney bursting into glory country for his trademark point drew approving noises from the bleachers.
And when Michael Meehan struck a sweet, left-foot goal with nine minutes remaining, it gave sponsor Michael Donnelly the kind of intense and competitive climax that critics of the interprovincial exhibition would claim as long disappeared.
With the crowd flush against the railings, a series of heavy challenged brought the final rumbling towards extra time until Joe Sheridan plucked a long Conal Keaney ball from the skies to slam home a goal in the last minute of normal time.
There was a warm mood around the club house in Canton afterwards and although the future of this competition remains uncertain, the players involved put in a serious effort.
LEINSTER: G Connaughton; A Fennelly, B Cahill, M Ennis; C King, C Moran, K Slattery; B Quigley, P Clancy (0-1); D Lally, J Doyle (0-3), M Carpenter (1-2); C Keaney (0-4, 1 free), J Sheridan (1-3), B Kavanagh (0-1). Subs: A Mangan for B Kavanagh (47 mins), T Walsh for P Clancy (43 mins), D Clarke for D Lally (50 mins inj).
CONNACHT: D Clarke; D Burke, F Hanley, S McDermott; S Daly, D Blake, D Heaney (0-1); P Harte, D Brady; A Kerins, G Brady, A Dillon (0-1); C Mortimer (0-6, 5 frees), M Meehan (1-1), D Savage (1-0). Subs: K Mannion (0-1) for G Brady (26 mins), S Davey for P Harte (half-time inj), K O'Neill (0-1) for A Kerins (half-time).
Referee: A Mangan (Kerry).
