Sport

Players give their all in a thrilling draw

HOLDERS Ulster were denied in the very final seconds of this enthralling game played in atrocious weather conditions at Fitzgerald…

Mon Apr 05 1999 - 01:00

HOLDERS Ulster were denied in the very final seconds of this enthralling game played in atrocious weather conditions at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, yesterday.

Munster's passion earned them a draw which keeps them in the hunt for a title they have not won since 1982. The game was watched by only a couple of hundred people but they saw an Easter cracker.

Munster led 1-2 to 1-1 after a slow first quarter, with Declan Browne scoring their goal and Paschal Canavan finding the net for Ulster. Joe Brolly then stepped into the limelight and kicked four points in succession, including one from a sideline kick, to put Ulster in control. When Paschal Canavan drove home his side's second goal just before the break, Ulster moved into a 2-7 to 1-2 half-time lead.

Munster, inspired by the brilliance of Seamus Moynihan, turned the game around in the second half. Joe Kavanagh became a shining light and with scores now flowing over the Ulster crossbar like the heavy rain cascading from the nearby mountains, Munster soon closed the gap.

READ MORE

Browne, Dara O Cinneide and Padraig O'Mahony narrowed the gap and with three minutes remaining, Ulster led 2-9 to 1-10. O'Mahony narrowed the gap to a single point for Munster before Kavanagh equalised at the stroke of full time. Ulster went into a 3-12 to 1-14 lead by half-time in extra-time, the goal coming from a Peter Canavan penalty after James McCartan had been hauled down by Munster goalkeeper Declan O'Keeffe.

Munster again fought back, with points from Browne, Kavanagh and O'Mahony. In a nerve-tingling final few minutes Jim McGuinness put Ulster into the lead with a point on the stroke of normal time but in injury time Munster's Ciaran O'Sullivan remained ice-cool to equalise from a 45.

MUNSTER: D O'Keeffe; M O'Donovan, S Moynihan, A Malone; M Cronin, C O'Sullivan (0-1), E Breen; D O Se, J Quane; M Daly, L Hassett (0-1), D O Cinneide (0-2); P Lambert, J Kavanagh (0- 3), D Browne (1-8). Subs: P O'Mahony (0-4) for Lambert; G Keane for M Daly; N Murphy (0-1) for J Quane; A Dorgan for O Cinneide.

ULSTER: F McConnell; P McGuinness, M Magill, P Devlin; N Hegarty, C McGeeney, G Coleman (0- 1); J McGuinness (0-1), A Tohill (0-1); P McGrene, D Marsden, J McCartan; J Brolly (0-4), Peter Canavan (1-5), B Devenney. Subs: Pas - chal Canavan (2-2) for McGrene.

Referee: J Bannon, Longford.