ULSTER took a major step towards retaining their men's under-21 interprovincial hockey title yesterday when they scored a deserved win over Leinster on the opening day of the three-day tournament at Harlequin Park in Cork.

Ulster took the lead in the sixth minute when Andrew Cousins scored with a rising shot. They added a second in the 39th minute when Patrick Towe scored from their fourth penalty corner.

Leinster, who had impressive players in David Hanna and Alan Bothwell, enjoyed some good spells of dominance in the game, yet despite winning the penalty corner count 8-4, they failed to break down a solid Ulster defence.

. Goals from Adam Daunt-Sheehan, Graham Shine and Mark Black gave Munster, who led 2-0 at half-time, a narrow 3-2 win over the Combined Universities in the opening game. Michael Brett and Paul Lombard scored for the Combined Universities.