Women's Hockey: Ulster retained their under-18 interprovincial title in Belfast yesterday, one they have held since 2000, but this year they were pushed all the way by Munster and Connacht, and only won the title on goal difference after yesterday's decisive games.

Connacht inflicted a rare defeat on the hosts in the final game of the tournament, with Susan Joyce scoring in the last minute to give her team a 3-2 victory. But having beaten South East (on Friday) and Leinster (on Saturday), they lost 4-1 to Munster yesterday morning - Villiers' Sarah Gray scoring a hat-trick - and that ultimately cost them the tournament.

That result, though, kept Munster's hopes alive, but they needed a larger margin of victory over Leinster in the afternoon than the 2-1 win they had to settle for. In the end, Connacht needed a hatful of goals over Ulster if they were to snatch the title, but, still, Ger Dooley's team will take considerable pride from a victory over the province that has so dominated under-18 hockey over the past seven years.

With nine league games still to go, Loreto might be reluctant to concede that hopes of a third successive title are gone - there are still 27 points to be played for - but their 4-2 defeat by Pembroke Wanderers on Saturday, their fourth loss of the season, makes it likely they will relinquish the crown.

Pembroke, who led 2-1 at the break, not only regained top spot in the table from Hermes on goal difference but also became the first division's top scorers, goals from Aoife O'Gorman, Lorna Hill, Natalie Fulton and Katherine Little giving them an impressive 26 from just eight games.

In contrast, the Ulster and Munster champions had a good weekend. Pegasus dropped their first points of the campaign, but Arlene Boyle's last-minute equaliser against Ballymoney maintained their lead in the table.

Church of Ireland's scoreless draw with Bandon yesterday tightened Cork Harlequins' grip on their title.