Ulster take series Men's Hockey

Men's Hockey: Ulster took the interprovincial trophy north of the Border yesterday when they beat Munster 2-1 in the deciding match of the championship at Grange Road.

The game was set up for a winner-takes-all game after both teams had drawn with the Leinster under-21 side in their opening games over Friday and Saturday.

Ulster's two scores yesterday came from Lisnagarvey's Timothy Cockram and Bangor's Mark Daniel, with Munster's goal arriving from Cork C of I's Andrew Herbert.

Cockram's strike came after just three minutes when he followed up after a short corner, while Daniel's came just two minutes later from a fine individual run. Munster's reply was on the 13th minute when Herbert jumped on a misplaced Ulster pass in defence and finished with a well-taken reverse stick shot.

Ulster's win was enough to take the title from Leinster, who won the tournament last year in Banbridge.

On Saturday, it looked as though the home side might make a bid for the competition when they went a goal up against Ulster after YMCA's Andrew Walker grabbed a second-half score. But Ulster hung in and just two minutes from the end were able to capitalise on Leinster's inability to widen the lead, when Mark Gleghorne struck the equaliser.

Munster had drawn with Leinster 3-3 in the opening game of the tournament. Although the Irish Universities were involved in order to make the weekend a meaningful quadrangular event, they were not eligible to win the interprovincial trophy. Phelie Maguire hit two goals for Leinster in the first game and UCD's Fran Lee the other, with Munster's replies coming from Ken Twoomey, Philip O'Driscoll and Robert Hobbs.

Leinster's final 4-3 win over the Irish Universities in the last match of the weekend ensured they won the four-team competition, if not the provincial title.

A panel of players, from which the under-21 team will be ultimately selected, will be announced next month. That panel will then focus on the under-21 Nations Cup in Belgium, in July.

INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP (at Grange Road): Ulster 2 (T Cockram, M Daniel), Munster 1 (A Herbert); Leinster 1 (A Walker), Ulster 1 (M Gleghorne); Leinster 3 (P Maguire 2, F Lee), Munster 3 (K Twoomey, P O'Driscoll, R Hobbs); Irish Universities 3 (J Blackeney, G Ryan, T Parsons), Leinster 4 (G Watkins 2, N Lyons, P Blackeney).