Men's Hockey: The Under-21 Interprovincial tournament remained finely balanced at Harlequin Park, Cork, yesterday until 13 minutes from the end of the decisive match when Mark Gleghorne snicked Ulster into a vital lead against Leinster - and the defending champions went on to win, 2-1.
Gleghorne connected deftly with a free and when Simon Magowan sent Jamie McAuley through to put Ulster 2-0 up, it seemed too late for Leinster to respond.
Leinster did hit back, though, as Andrew McConnell pressed forward for Alan Sothern to score with two minutes left and in several last-gasp raids, they barely failed to earn the 2-2 result needed to snatch the laurels.
Prompted by Neil Lyons, Leinster had looked capable of taking the initiative in the opening half as they forced six short corners. It was only approaching the interval that Ulster, with Stephen Redpath to the fore, became assertive and were foiled by a penalty-stroke save from Richard Irvine from Gleghorne.
On Saturday, Munster - who had shared the spoils with Leinster (3-3) on Friday - went close to claiming the title by raising the tempo in the second half to draw level at 1-1 with Ulster and threatened to force a victory.
Early Ulster incisiveness by Mark Daniel in particular yielded a well-struck goal by Chris Cargo and Munster were fortunate not to go further behind before the defence settled down impressively.
Gaining confidence, as well as impetus from Andrew Herbert in midfield, Munster attacked with some verve and were rewarded with a drag-flick equaliser by Stephen Sweetman. There was the prospect of a further breakthrough as Jonathan Bruton started to break free on the right flank but Ian Hughes was totally alert in the Ulster goal, as was his opposite number, Chris Daunt, in coping with counter-thrusts.
The Universities, who ended the tournament with a 2-1 defeat of Munster, were most able to enjoy the more social element of the tournament, hosted enthusiastically by John Rose, directed genially by Joe Connolly and attended knowledgably by the new president of the Irish Hockey Association, Grace Redmond.
