GAA Interprovincial Results
Ulster 0-23 (23)
Munster 2-11 (19)
Connacht 4-21 (37)
Leinster 1-11 (15)
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Paul Keane reports from Croke Park
AIDAN O’SHEA helped Connacht through to the interprovincial final with a Man of the Match display but expressed reservations about the GAA’s trial rules.
The powerful Mayo forward scored football’s first four-point goal and finished with 1-3 as Connacht demolished Leinster 4-21 1-11 in the first of this evening’s semi-finals.
Tyrone’s Niall Morgan was Man of the Match in the second semi-final as Ulster beat Munster 0-23 to 2-11 in a tighter and more entertaining game.
It means that Connacht will return to Croke Park for tomorrow evening’s final while losers Leinster and Munster will meet in the earlier shield final.
The real intrigue was around the trial rules though with the competition in place to test out the Football Review Committee’s suite of ‘rules enhancements’.
O’Shea netted after just three minutes for Connacht and also kicked a point from outside the new 40m arc – worth two points under the trial rules.
The majority of the FRC’s seven ‘core rules enhancements’ got an airing across the two games.
Keeping at least three players in the opposition’s half at all times didn’t cause much fuss while there were plenty of four-point goals and two-point long-range scores.
The solo-and-go and the revised advanced mark haven’t caught on yet though. The amount of solo-and-go moves were minimal – Dublin’s Paddy Small did pinch a point from one for Leinster – while there were no advanced marks claimed.
O’Shea and Morgan won the Man of the Match awards on the evening and both expressed reservations about some aspects of the rules.
“The scoring system, I don’t think there’s any real need, you know, the arc and stuff like that,” said O’Shea. “But look, there’s a lot of work gone into this from the FRC so we’ve got to embrace it as best we can. It’s nice to try something different but probably a few tweaks need to be made.”
On keeping three players in the opposition half, O’Shea looked to the positive.
“There’s an opportunity to transition quicker with that,” he said. “The kick-pass comes back into play and defensively they have to try and react to that. It creates more scoring opportunities. That can only be a positive for the game.”
O’Shea concluded on a cautious note.
“I don’t want to be judging them off one game and that was a very one-sided game as well but we need to be careful we don’t change too much,” said the veteran.
Morgan was cautious too after playing a key role in Ulster’s tighter win over Munster.
He scored one long-range point from open play, garnering two points for his team, and pulled off a great save to deny Munster’s Ian Maguire late on.
“The word we seem to be using at the minute is manic,” said Morgan. “Players are going to have to learn very quickly if this is what’s going to come in, because by the sounds of it they’re coming in no matter what.”
Morgan said that players are going to have to be ‘fitter’ to keep up with the new rules which allow for quicker restarts and a more dynamic game.
And he warned that it could become a ‘hoofing match’ if the rule demanding that goalkeepers kick the ball out beyond the new 40m arc comes in permanently.
It was an eye-opening night overall with all four provinces running their benches and using the majority of their 30-man panels.
Connacht had it easiest and hit Leinster hard and early to run up a 1-18 to 0-4 half-time lead.
Even with four points for a goal, Leinster weren’t going to come back from that and conceded more goals to Connacht’s Barry McNulty, Ciarain Murtagh and Liam Gallagher.
Munster put up more of a challenge against Ulster. John Cleary’s southerners were chasing the game throughout but getting four points for Sean Walsh’s 23rd minute goal kept them in it.
Morgan was restricted in terms of backpasses under the trial rules but was permitted to take a pass in the opposition’s half and duly bombed forward on several occasions.
He scored once himself and set up two more. Diarmuid O’Connor’s late Munster goal got the deficit down to just two points but Ulster pulled away with late Marc Jordan and Niall Toner points.
* Scoring key (4pt goal – 2pt score – 1pt score)
Ulster scorers: Niall Grimley 0-4 (0-1-2), Joe McElroy 0-2, Darren McCurry 0-2 (1f), Niall Morgan 0-2 (0-1-0), Mark Bradley 0-2, Daniel Guinness 0-1, Daire O Baoill 0-1, Ciaran Thompson 0-1, Rian O’Neill 0-1, Eoin McElholm 0-1, Odhran Murdock 0-1, Oisin O’Neill 0-1, Kieran McGeary 0-1 (1f), Pat Havern 0-1 (1f), Marc Jordan 0-1, Niall Toner 0-1 (1f).
Munster scorers: Diarmuid O’Connor 1-1 (1-0-1), Sean Walsh 1-0, Killian Spillane 0-4 (0-1-2), Chris Og Jones 0-2, Emmet McMahon 0-1, Darragh Brennan 0-1, Ian Maguire 0-1, Aaron Griffin 0-1.
ULSTER
1. Niall Morgan (Tyrone)
2. Diarmuid Baker (Derry)
3. Eoin McEvoy (Derry)
4. Paddy Burns (Armagh)
5. Daniel Guinness (Down)
6. Aidan Forker (Armagh – Captain)
7. Daire O Baoill (Donegal)
8. Niall Grimley (Armagh)
30. Odhran Murdock (Down)
10. Joe McElroy (Armagh)
14. Rian O’Neill (Armagh)
11. Ciaran Thompson (Donegal)
12. Oisin Conaty (Armagh)
15. Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
23. Eoin McElholm (Tyrone)
Subs used: 17. Oisin O’Neill (Armagh), 31. Jason Irwin (Monaghan), 13. Mark Bradley (Tyrone), 20. Gerry Smith (Cavan), 24. Ross McQuillan (Armagh), 21. Barry McBennett (Monaghan), 19. Padraig Faulkner (Cavan), 25. Pat Havern (Down), 18. Niall Toner (Derry), 9. Conn Kilpatrick (Tyrone), 29. Kieran McGeary (Tyrone), 26. Marc Jordan (Antrim), 22. Aidan Clarke (Tyrone).
MUNSTER
16. Chris Kelly (Cork)
4. Sean Meehan (Cork)
3. Jimmy Feehan (Tipperary)
5. Damien Burke (Kerry)
11. Alan Sweeney (Clare)
9. Tommy Walsh (Cork)
15. Mattie Taylor (Cork)
17. Diarmuid O’Connor (Kerry – Captain)
18. Brian McNamara (Clare)
23. James Naughton (Limerick)
21. Eoin Cleary (Clare)
22. Emmet McMahon (Clare)
27. Danny Neville (Limerick)
28. Chris Og Jones (Cork)
26. Killian Spillane (Kerry)
SUBS USED: 20. Sean Walsh (Waterford), 29. Darragh Brennan (Tipperary), 31. Ian Maguire (Cork), 25. Aaron Griffin (Clare), 7. Maurice Shanley (Cork), 14. Mark Stokes (Tipperary), 24. Paul Walsh (Cork), 19. Colm O’Callaghan (Cork), 8. Caoimhin Walsh (Waterford).
Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).
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Connacht scorers: Aidan O’Shea 1-3 (1-1-1), Barry McNulty 1-1 (1-0-1f), Liam Gallagher 1-0, Ciarain Murtagh 1-0, Diarmuid Murtagh 0-4 (0-1-1), Fergal Boland 0-3 (0-1-1), Daire Cregg 0-2 (0-2f), Jack Carney 0-2 (0-1-0), Connor Gleeson 0-2 (0-0-1f), Conor Cox 0-2 (1f), Donie Smith 0-1 (1f), Cian Lally 0-1.
Leinster scorers: Ciaran Byrne 1-4 (1-1-1), Kevin Quinn 0-2 (0-1-0), Paddy Small 0-2, Ciaran Kilkenny 0-1, Kevin Feely 0-1, Eoin Porter 0-1.
* Scoring key (Goals – 2pt scores – 1 pt scores)
CONNACHT
1. Connor Gleeson (Galway)
2. Johnny McGrath (Galway)
3. Brian Stack (Roscommon)
4. Sean Mulkerrin (Galway)
5. Cillian McDaid (Galway – Captain)
6. John Daly (Galway)
7. Eoghan McLaughlin (Mayo)
8. Jack Carney (Mayo)
9. John Maher (Galway)
10. Matthew Tierney (Galway)
11. Bob Tuohy (Mayo)
12. Enda Smith (Roscommon)
13. Diarmuid Murtagh (Roscommon)
14. Aidan O’Shea (Mayo)
15. Daire Cregg (Roscommon)
SUBS USED: 27. Fergal Boland (Mayo), 19. Johnny Heaney (Galway), 24. Donie Smith (Roscommon), 17. Ruaidhri Fallon (Roscommon), 22. Barry McNulty (Leitrim), 23. Conor Cox (Roscommon), Conor Carroll (Roscommon), 25. Ciarain Murtagh (Roscommon), 18. Mark Diffley (Leitrim), 26. Diarmuid Duffy (Mayo), 29. Cian Lally (Sligo), 21. Ultan Harney (Roscommon), 30. Liam Gallagher (London), 16. Conor Carroll (Roscommon), 20. Shane Cunnane (Roscommon), 28. Pat Spillane (Sligo).
LEINSTER
1. Stephen Cluxton (Dublin)
21. Craig Lennon (Louth)
2. Michael Bambrick (Carlow)
23. Eoin Murchan (Dublin)
28. John Small (Dublin)
30. Ronan Wallace (Westmeath)
22. James McCarthy (Dublin – Captain)
6. Ray Connellan (Westmeath)
13. Dean Healy (Wicklow)
8. Ciaran Downey (Louth)
19. Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin)
15. Brian Howard (Dublin)
3. Mark Barry (Laois)
11. Daniel Flynn (Kildare)
27. Kevin Quinn (Wicklow)
SUBS USED: 18. Donal Keogan (Meath), 29. Paddy Small (Dublin), 5. Ciaran Byrne (Louth), 20. Paul Kingston (Laois), 24. Evan O’Carroll (Laois), 16. Killian Roche (Laois), 10. Kevin Feely (Kildare), 12. Darren Gallagher (Longford), 17. Ronan Jones (Meath), 7. Peter Cunningham (Offaly), 26. Eoin Porter (Wexford), 4. Sean Bugler (Dublin), 9. Ross Dunphy (Carlow), 14. Ryan Houlihan (Kildare).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
