A TERESA HURLEY goal two minutes from time in yesterday's Interprovincial decider at Grange Road crowned a remarkable 6-0 victory for Leinster over defending champions Ulster and clinched the province's first title since 1994. "The world's gone mad," said one seasoned observer who was more accustomed to seeing Ulster hand out the thrashings.

"They did very well," was the hugely modest verdict of Fintan Butler at full time. The Leinster coach was quick to refute any suggestions that his charges had beaten a depleted Ulster team. "We played them many a time with three players off and there was nothing said about it," he said.

"At times we faced them without Mary Logue or Sandra O'Gorman, they stuffed us and nothing was ever said. They're missing two or three players but they're still an excellent side," he added.

In their defence it cannot be denied that Ulster were forced to field a weakened, if not a weak, team - as Connacht coach Noel Keogh pointed out last week "there is no such thing as a weak Ulster side."

Nevertheless, when they travelled south for the championships Ulster left a string of key players behind - the injured Laura Brown, Karen Humphreys, Kim Mills and Caroline Craig, and Claire Samways who was unavailable due to work commitments.

To add to the woes of coach Peter McCabe Irish international defender Arlene Thompson was stretchered off in Ulster's opening match against Connacht on Saturday after twisting her knee. Thompson will be out until Christmas with a knee ligament injury and she was undoubtedly a huge loss to Ulster for the decider against Leinster.

Jan Gibson was a more than adequate replacement for Thompson against Munster on Saturday afternoon, but once the Leinster attack got warmed up on a freezing Sunday morning they gave Gibson and the rest of the Ulster rearguard an afternoon they will want to forget.

For the first 28 minutes of the match there was little to choose between the two teams as the out standing Hurley and Ulster captain Jeanette Turner fought for domination in midfield. Mary Logue, Jenny. Burke, Orla Bell and Trish Conway had run riot against Connacht the previous day, in a 6-0 victory, but were given much less room to roam by the Ulster defence in the early stages. Meanwhile the Northerners found Old Alexandra's Susan Keogh in commanding form at the back for the hosts.

Leinster's superior goal difference after their opening two matches left Ulster needing a win to retain the Stephen Doyle Memorial Cup, but once Burke opened the scoring in the 28th minute it seemed inevitable that Dublin would be the trophy's new resting place.

It was a superb opening score from the Hermes and Irish international striker, who met Logue's cross from the right with a first time shot that flew past Alison Vance. Four minutes later Hurley threaded a perfect pass from midfield through to Logue on the right and the Leinster captain sprinted in to the circle before drilling the ball home.

Ulster's determination to get back in to the match was rewarded with two early second half short corners but they came to nothing and in the final 12 minutes of the game Leinster turned an impressive scoreline in to one that left most of the crowd open mouthed. Conway, who had scored four against Connacht, added to her tally in the tournament in the 58th minute while a Logue penalty. stroke, Burke's second of the match and Hurley's added-time score left Ulster deflated.

At the end of the match Butler sent a very clear message to the Irish selectors, who will name squads next week to begin preparations for next August's World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. "I think more of those Leinster girls have to get on the Irish team. We scored 15 and had no goals against this weekend - how can the Irish team be dominated by Ulster in those circumstances? Let's be fair about it. If that team can do that to Ulster and Ulster dominate the Irish squad then there's something wrong with the Irish team," said Butler.

Earlier in the day Connacht finally gained some reward for the efforts they put in to their preparations for the weekend when they beat Munster with a Shirine Young goal six minutes from time. The defeat was Munster's third of the championships but in truth they deserved more after spirited displays in each of their matches, particularly against Ulster on Saturday.