Munster win Inter-Provincial Ladies Football

INTERPROVINCIAL LADIES FOOTBALL

BY JACKIE CAHILL

CORK manager Jim McEvoy thoroughly enjoyed his stint in charge of Munster as they claimed victory in last Saturday’s Interprovincial Ladies Football championship, played at Kinnegad. McEvoy was back overseeing Cork training on Sunday morning, a day after Munster secured a 2-6 to 0-8 final victory against pre-match favourites Leinster.
Munster began their campaign with a hard-fought 0-8 to 0-6 victory over Ulster before upping the ante considerably to see off the Connacht challenge on a whopping 5-10 to 0-2 scoreline.

Cork pair Norita Kelly and Geraldine Flynn performed best against Ulster, while young Clare star Eimear Considine was another impressive performer.
Considine scored one of Munster goals against Connacht as Limerick pair Sarah Houlihan and Dymphna O’Brien, Tipperary’s Allstar Edel Hanley and Kerry ace Patrice Dennehy chipped in with the others. McEvoy noted: “We brought a panel of 22 and used some of our fringe players in the Connacht game. The good thing is that those five goalscorers are not names that everybody would be familiar with.” Considine, Limerick’s Sandra Healy and Tipperary’s Gillian O’Brien are star performers for their counties and they really stepped up to the plate with Munster at the county Westmeath venue.

Cork’s Allstar corner forward Valerie Mulcahy bagged 2-3 in the final against Leinster as Munster claimed the Interprovincial title for the first time since 2007.
Mulcahy’s 10th-minute goal helped Munster to lead by 1-4 to 0-3 at half-time and the lethal Allstar struck again with six minutes remaining to seal the win.
McEvoy reflected: “That was my first time to manage Munster and it was a great experience. Before the first match, girls were introducing themselves to each other and just three hours later, by the time they had won the final, they were willing to die for each other.”

Meanwhile, Ulster ran riot against Connacht as they claimed the shield title on a 6-20 to 1-5 scoreline, having led by 3-10 to 0-5 at half-time.

Scorers for Munster: V Mulcahy 2-3, P Dennehy 0-2, G O’Flynn 0-1.
Scorers for Leinster: M Kirwan & B Leahy 0-2 each, N Earley, S Ahern, A Jennings, & G Nulty 0-1 each.

Results:
Connacht 0-5
Leinster 3-14

Munster 0-8
Ulster 0-6

Connacht 0-2
Munster 5-10

Leinster 1-16
Ulster 0-11

Shield Final:
Connacht 1-5
Ulster 6-20

Interprovincial final:
Leinster 0-8
Munster 2-6