Record Win for Ulster
M Donnelly GAA Football Inter-Provincial Final:
Ulster 0-15 Munster 1-08
Ulster regained the M Donnelly Interprovincial senior football title on Sunday with a 0-15 to 1-8 win over 2008 winners Munster in London.
The Ruislip encounter was the first such final to be played in the British capital and Joe Kernan’s men emerged from it with a record 29th crown at this level, leading to delighted captain Stephen O’Neill lifting the trophy.
Kernan’s side were the better for much of the game though did find themselves trailing after a third-quarter Munster comeback. However, Ulster did not let Waterford man Gary Hurney’s goal derail them and scored the game’s last five scores for a four-point win.
Derry scoring ace Paddy Bradley started the day’s scoring in front of over 1,000 spectators but Cork’s Daniel Goulding then hit a double, with Michael Murphy pointing for Ulster, the sides level after ten minutes.
Points from Donegal’s Murphy and O’Neill restored the Ulster advantage and further efforts from Bradley, Paul Finlay and Kevin Hughes had them looking very good before they lost Armagh defender Ciaran McKeever to a suspected fractured leg.
Goulding grabbed a couple of quick scores but Hughes’ second for Ulster saw them lead by double scores at the break, 0-8 to 0-4.
Three minutes into the second half, however, it became anybody’s game. Cork man Nicholas Murphy was growing in stature in the important midfield area for Munster and when Hurney turned his man to power an effort into John Devine’s net there was just one point in it.
Murphy, James Ryan, Goulding and Donncha O’Connor also scored as Munster had a lead with 12 minutes to play.
But Ulster steadied themselves and sub Daniel Hughes of Down brought an extra spark onto the field with him. He hit two scores and Derry’s Gerard O’Kane his second as Ger O’Sullivan’s men were sent into arrears again.
Dan Gordon and another sub, Conor Gormley, added late points to seal the victory and the latest crown for Ulster, who last won this competition in 2007.
