FINDING the form which deserted them in April, a welt seasoned Leinster squad, invigorated by several ambitious younger figures, regained the interprovincial hockey laurels by outmanoeuvring Ulster at Blaris, Lisburn, yesterday.
After forcing no more than a scoreless draw with Munster on Saturday and losing international midfielder Galahad Goulet with a fractured cheekbone after 10 minutes of that game, it appeared that Leinster lacked sufficient gusto to upset Ulster. But a succession of Sunday training stints directed by John McInerney ultimately produced an outstanding team performance.
Key roles were played by the indefatigable captain Liam Canning, by the ever persistent Nigel Kingston and the much composed JP Murphy in midfield and, most importantly, by Nigel Henderson, who remarkably saved all seven short corner deliveries from Ireland's leading set piece marksman, Robbie Taylor.
Henderson asserted himself from the start and with new cap Alan Brown also giving Trevor Dagg particularly valuable support, the sting was removed from Ulster's opening surges involving Chris Jackson, Mark Irwin and Daniel Clarke.
As Leinster became more positive, Jamie McBride fired in a shot which fully stretched Raymond Geddis. Then, though a short corner broke down, Dagg still engineered space on the right of the circle for Kingston to score from an acute angle.
Eleven minutes after the interval, Kingston forced home the second goal after Canning's powerful drive could only be partially cleared. At this stage, Ulster were a spent force - admittedly after considerable effort before putting lunch into snatching a 1-1 draw with Munster.
So, with Canning now revelling in open since and Francis de Rosa also enjoying freedom in a midfield slot vacated by the injured Devin Donnelly, Leinster moved with abandon in the closing stages. Gordon Elliott was denied a debut goal by the edge of a post but the attacks kept coming and Murphy split the over for McBride to embellish the scoreline.
There were times, too, when Alastair Dunne and Darren Hanna forced the pace for Munster against the defending champions, especially in the first half in the morning match. Indeed, it seemed that a goal neatly put away with the reverse stick by Andrew Cooke in the 15th minute, might earn his side the title.
Also in this game, Ulster were frustrated at short corners, with Nigel Buttimer doing much damage in his charges to the breakdown point as well as giving an impressive performance in midfield. Munster right back Jason Black was another member of the younger school to be marked down for the future in Cees Koppelaar's notebook. But despite another vintage performance by Ger Burns, an equaliser was poached by Taylor, this time with David Smyth coming off the bench to supply a clean stick stop, with only two minutes left on the clock.
