AFTER the surrender of the Irish Senior Cup to Avoca, Ulster's hockey pride was restored with a clinical conquest of Leinster to regain the interprovincial honours at Serpentine Avenue yesterday.
Leinster, with their energy sapped by a demanding 1-1 draw with Munster on Saturday, could not generate sufficient spark to promise at any time that they, would retain the title in the union spiring, saturated conditions. Their cause was virtually lost after 10 minutes when Robbie Taylor swept his first penalty corner flick out of Peter Darley's reach for what was to be the solitary goal of the game.
Darley and his fellow defendiers, notably Dessie Farrell, coped with seven more set piece threats' gas well as darting breaks by Mark Irwin and David McAnulty in the second half. In contrast, the Leinster attackers rarely came within shooting range. The home side's only short corner was forced by Galahad Goulet three minutes after the interval and although Turlough O Siochain's second phase shot yielded a penalty stroke, Liam Canning's conversion attempt struck the bar.
Basically, the sun was never to come out for Leinster as Ulster gained a total grip of the proceedings. The back four played exceptionally efficiently, with Errol Lutton, particularly, in masterful form in the middle and David Smyth adding to his developing reputation on the left flank. Lee Tumilty also enhanced his potential in midfield in which Taylor and skipper Paul Hollway were always assertive.
The weekend a much solace to Taylor the Lisnagarvey captain after the defeat by Avoca the previous Sunday. He notched all four goals for Ulster, having scored a hat trick against Munster on Friday.
Munster were much sharper when they challenged Leinster on Saturday. A major factor was that Dave Murray joined Ger Burns in the heart of the defence and Robbie Ryan switched to a more aggressive role in midfield. Ryan, like his fellow Avoca players (in the Leinster camp), showed some effects of the cup final exertions, but he found a burst of energy in the second half to poke home the equaliser in the 55th minute from a well struck centre by Paul Lombard.
Leinster overall were stronger and had taken the lead after the interval when Canning put away a penalty stroke after he had been impeded when a shot by Colin Hade came loose off Ivan Bateman's pads.
Bateman was required to show his agility with two notable saves from Canning in the opening half but Munster, defied initially by Nigel Henderson, were menacing on the break when the Hanna brothers drove into space.
Ultimately, the draw was a merited consolation for Munster, with Jason Black of their younger figures again making an impression at right back. For Leinster, the tournament was an anti climax after last week's celebrations in Dublin and the promise of a flowing performance after scoring readily in Germany.
But there should still be a well balanced representation in the Irish squad for the fresh international campaign which starts with the visit to Barcelona in mid May. National coach Cees Koppelaar seems reasonably pleased to have this opportunity to test some new recruits, though not all candidates will be available for the trip. A training panel is due to be announced this week.
