The Ulster team recently triumphed in an exhilarating Interprovincial Championship Final, clinching their 33rd victory in a thrilling penalty shoot-out against Connacht. It’s interesting to note that there was a considerable debate in the Football Review Committee over the validity of maintaining penalty shoot-outs in recent times.
Previously referred to as the Railway Cup, the interprovincial series culminated in an energetic showdown at Croke Park. The weekend match concluded with Odhrán Murdock successfully executing the decisive penalty. This was one of merely three successful penalties from twelve attempts, leading to Kieran Donnelly’s team’s outstanding win.
Despite the excitement generated, some continue to question the relevance of penalty shoot-outs, and the FRC had recently contemplated ousting them in favour of ‘overtime showdowns’. However, this possibility remains unfulfilled.
Contrary to expectations, the outcome was far from irrelevant, despite the revival of the interprovincial series primarily to experiment with the FRC’s ‘rule enhancements’. Both teams pushed vigorously for the win. The turning point came when Murdock scored another goal for Ulster in the 59th minute, giving them a two-point lead.
The essence of a goal was exemplified several times during the match, as Connacht managed to score four throughout the course of the game. Scores were contributed by Matthew Tierney, Diarmuid Murtagh and Enda Smith.
Despite being outclassed by Ulster in parts of the game, Connacht’s goals seemed to keep them afloat. Ulster’s critical second goal left them leading by two points with seconds to spare. Galway’s Johnny Heaney’s last-second long-range score tied the game leading to the thrilling penalty shootout.
Despite the subpar quality of the shoot-out, the level of excitement was at peak. However, it was evident that the spectators favoured reviewing the new regulations via live television broadcasts and expert commentaries, as Croke Park was mostly vacant. It was unquestionably a successful evening for the FRC’s enhancements. Both teams demonstrated an increased appetite for the sport, and compared to Friday’s semi-finals, appeared more competitive.
Rian O’Neill’s performance was outstanding, marking 0-8, which included two long-distance two-pointers. Both he and Armagh will without a doubt prosper if the two-point regulation is put into effect in 2025. In addition, Aidan Forker, his Orchard teammate, delivered the most impressive score of the game early in the second half with a stunning two-pointer from the outside of his left foot.
Both teams showed no interest in the modified advanced mark, while the tap and go must undergo further improvements. Nevertheless, the enjoyment that came from Saturday’s events makes it worthwhile to stick with the FRC’s offerings.
Key to scoring (4pt goal-2pt score-1pt score)
ULSTER Team: N Morgan; D Baker, P Burns, P Faulkner; D Guinness, A Forker (scored 0-3; 0-1-1), E McEvoy; N Grimley (scored 0-3), C Kilpatrick (scored 0-2); D O Baoill, R O’Neill (scored 0-8; 0-2-4), C Thompson; O Murdock (scored 1-0), O Conaty, D McCurry (scored 0-5, 2f).
Substitute players: J McElroy, M Bradley (scored 0-1), S McNally, O O’Neill, N Toner, G Smith, B McBennett, A Clarke, E McElholm, R McQuillan (scored 1-0), P Havern, M Jordan, P McGrane, R McCaffrey, K McGeary (scored 0-1).
In the Shield Final held at Croke Park on Saturday evening, Leinster emerged victorious over Munster with a score of 1-19 to 1-15. The team showed a marked upturn in their performance compared to their initial Friday match. Leinster’s early dominance saw them take a first-quarter lead of 1-7 to nil, thanks to a goal from Dublin’s John Small. Despite Munster’s spirited attempts, they never relinquished this edge.
In a similar fashion to their semi-final, Munster staged a comeback to keep the match competitive. They rallied behind Kerry’s Killian Spillane, whose exceptional shooting prowess, although dwindled by fatigue towards the close of the match, led to a total score of 0-9, bolstered by a couple of two-pointers.
The match was given a renewed vigour in the third quarter thanks to a goal from Chris Óg Jones of Cork, although the deficit was only reduced to one point in the latter quarter. Munster failed to uphold the momentum and late scores by Mark Barry, Ronan Wallace, and Dan Healy sealed Leinster’s win by four points.
Here is the player listing for CONNACHT: C Gleeson (0-2; 0-1-0); J McGrath, B Stack, S Mulkerrin; C McDaid, J Daly, E McLaughlin; J Carney (0-1), J Maher; M Tierney (2-1), B McNulty, E Smith (1-1); D Murtagh (1-2; 1-0-2), A O’Shea (0-1), P Towey with interchange subs: D Rooney, P Towey, S Brosnan, S Rafter, J Grace, B Tuohy, D Cregg, C Carroll, R Fallon, M Diffley, J Heaney (0-5; 0-2-1), S Cunnane, U Harney, C Cox, D Smith (0-1, 1f), C Murtagh (0-1), D Duffy, F Boland, P Spillane, A McLoughlin. The game was refereed by D Coldrick from Meath.
The Leinster team was comprised of S Cluxton of Dublin, E Porter from Wexford, Meath’s D Keoghan, Dublin’s E Murchan who scored 1 point, R Wallace of Westmeath with a point, Dublin’s B Howard and J Small who scored 4, plus R Connellan from Westmeath and Dublin captain, J McCarthy. The team also included C Byrne from Louth, scoring 2, Dublin’s C Kilkenny and S Bugler, P Small also from Dublin with 3 points, Kildare’s K Feely, who brought 4 points to the team, and C Downey of Louth.
From the interchange came M Bambrick of Carlow, M Barry who scored a point, P Cunningham from Offaly, Carlow’s R Dunphy, D Flynn of Kildare with a lone point, D Gallagher from Longford, who likewise scored 1 point, Wicklow’s D Healy with a point scored, Kildare’s R Houlihan, Laois’ K Roche, Meath’s R Jones, P Kingston playing for Laois, Louth’s C Lennon, E O’Carroll also from Laois, L Pearson of Offaly, and Wicklow’s K Quinn.
The Munster lineup is as follows: from Limerick, J Ryan and J Naughton; representing Cork is M Shanley, D Cashman, M Taylor, C O’Callaghan, I Maguire, C Óg Jones, substitutes C Kelly, S Meehan, T Walsh, and P Walsh; from Tipperary, J Feehan and M Stokes alongside D Brennan off the bench; Kerry’s representation comes with D Burke, T Morley, K Spillane, in addition to D O’Connor and D O’Sullivan on the substitutes’ list; E Cleary and E McMahon, alongside A Sweeney, A Griffin and B McNamara – a strong Clare contingent; and lastly, from Waterford, we have S Walsh in the team and reserves C Walsh, D Ryan and C Ó Currín. The referee for the match is Conor Lane, also hailing from Cork.