Leinster run show in Salthill

Interprovincial Hurling Championship Final/Leinster 1-22 Connacht 0-17: The sick man of Gaelic Games enjoyed an evening under the promenade bright lights in front of a decent crowd in Salthill on Saturday night. Visitors Leinster were always in control of this M Donnelly interprovincial hurling final, with a strong local presence eager for a preview of what might lie ahead for Galway hurling.

Unsurprisingly, the western province was comprised exclusively of Tribesman hurlers, with the return of the rangy Mark Kerins to the centre of the attack, the towering John Lee at number seven and the turbulent hurling life of Athenry legend Eugene Cloonan set to enjoy a second act at full forward.

Even though Leinster manager John Conran was without Kilkenny's Henry Shefflin and James "Cha" Fitzpatrick, the marquee Ballyhale contingent who are tied to club duties, his team comfortably ran the show here, with strong performances all through the lines. Diarmuid Lyng and Gary Hannify were forceful early on and the snappy forward line of Eddie Brennan, Joe Bergin and All-Ireland final hero Aidan Fogarty constantly mastered the Connacht rearguard, before running amok in the last quarter.

Galway players were playing to make an impression and while they were always playing catch-up on the scoreboard, there were several glimpses of the material which incoming manager Ger Loughnane will have to shape into a team of his own making. over what promises to be a long and punishing winter.

Cloonan, operating in his preferred role deep at full forward, had a riveting tussle with John Tennyson and memories of summers past must have contributed to the heat with which both players contested every ball. Tennyson made the Athenry man earn every possession and gave him minimal opportunities in open play.

But plenty of ball passed through the full forward and he showed that, in addition to a dead eye from distance, he still has the flair for the audacious, connecting with a spectacular 'double' on 42 minutes which was coolly killed by Offaly goalkeeper Brian Mullins.

Connacht trailed by 1-13 to 0-10 at the break, coughing up a goal seconds before half-time when Joe Bergin left Ger Mahon and the covering Damien Joyce with the smartest of touches and ran at an angle before hammering his goal past Liam Donoghue. That goal put too much distance between the teams, with Richie Power cleaning up with any free in range and the other Leinster forwards clipping over scores.

The contest could have evaporated altogether in the third quarter as Eddie Brennan twice got inside Ger Mahon, firing his first shot into the side netting and - mercifully for Connacht - getting whistled for over-carrying as he wound up for the spectacular finish. Not long afterwards, Diarmuid Cloonan, another Galway man back from exile, dropped into full back.

There was a brief row on 45 minutes when Cloonan got involved with Gary Hannify and moments later the Offaly man earned a booking by hauling down Cloonan, rumbling towards goal, on to the turf in no uncertain fashion.

Unfazed, Leinster pressed ahead, with Fogarty adding two smashing points from the left wing and Tommy Walsh and James Ryall carrying their commanding championship form into the autumn. The occasion passed quietly at the end, with Leinster claiming a 24th provincial title in surroundings that at least recalled something of the splendour that this storied competition used to enjoy.

So this year's series concludes with a question mark over its future but it also left Ger Loughnane with a pocketful of notes and the Leinster men with a happy end-of-season trinket.

LEINSTER: B Mullins (Offaly); R Mullally (Kilkenny), J Tennyson (Kilkenny), J Ryall (Kilkenny); Diarmuid Lyng (Wexford), R Hannify (Offaly); T Walsh (Kilkenny), Derek Lyng (Kilkenny) 0-1; G Hannify (Offaly); E Larkin (Kilkenny) 0-2, R Power (Kilkenny) 0-7, five frees, one 65, D Franks (Offaly), M Jacob (Wexford); E Brennan (Kilkenny) 0-6, J Bergin (Offaly) 1-3, A Fogarty (Kilkenny) 0-4. Subs: M Jacob (Wexford) for D Franks (29 mins), M Travers (Wexford) for R Mullally (48 mins), D McCormack (Westmeath) for Diarmuid Lyng (65 mins); J Young (Laois) for Derek Lyng (65 mins), J McCormack (Dublin) for E Larkin (65 mins).

CONNACHT: (All Galway): L Donoghue; D Joyce , G Mahon, T Óg Regan; D Collins, D Cloonan, J Lee; R Murray (0-1), D Tierney (0-1); I Tannian (0-3), M Kerins (0-1), A Kerins; K Burke, E Cloonan (0-9, seven frees), F Healy (0-2). Subs: D Hayes for K Burke (24 mins), MJ Quinn for Mahon (42 mins), N Healy for A Kerins (43 mins), K Broderick for R Murray (59 mins), G Farragher for M Kerins (59 mins).

Referee: S Roche (Tipperary).