Ulster keep senior title in style

Ulster retained their Senior Interprovincial title in Bangor yesterday with an emphatic 7-0 win over Leinster in the tournament's final and deciding game, a margin of victory that buries, for once and for all, painful memories of their 6-0 defeat by their old rivals in the 1996 tournament at Grange Road. The two provinces, with only three survivors each from that 1996 game (Alison Vance, Julie Stewart and Jeanette Turner for Ulster, Trish Conway, Carol Devine and Susan Keogh for Leinster) went in to the decider having already beaten Munster and Connacht but Ulster needed just a draw because of their superior goal difference.

But, by the time the second half of the game got under way, it had become a damage limitation exercise for Leinster who trailed 4-0. Tamara Stronge (Ards) opened the scoring for the hosts after just five minutes before Knock's Julie Doak made it 2-0 seven minutes later.

The goal was Doak's sixth of the tournament, capping a memorable interprovincial debut for the player whose inclusion in the squad had been in doubt until the final hour after she injured a thumb in a training session.

Former Irish internationals Claire McGookin (formerly Samways) and Jeanette Turner, playing in her final interprovincial tournament, added two more goals before half-time and within three minutes of the re-start Pamela Magill brought her province's tally to five. Leinster then had their best spell of the match, with Ulster goalkeeper Vance denying Cathy McKean a score, but Magill completed the rout with two more goals in the final 10 minutes, her hat-trick coming from a penalty stroke seconds before the end. "No complaints," said a gracious Leinster coach, David Judge. "Ulster were the superior side, physically and technically, and fully deserved their victory."

Despite being without their international players, as all the provinces were, Ulster can rarely have had as comfortable a senior interprovincial success, scoring 16 goals without reply in their three games. On Friday they beat Connacht 3-0 and on Saturday four goals from Doak helped them to a 6-0 win over Munster.

Goals from Jill Kelly, Trish Conway and Sinead McDonnell gave Leinster a 3-0 victory over Connacht on Saturday while Munster picked up their only points of the tournament yesterday, beating Connacht 2-1 - Aoife McCarthy and Nan Kearney gave them a 2-0 lead before Orla Canavan pulled a goal back for Connacht.