Ulster complete interpros clean sweep

Ulster blitzed all comers to complete a remarkable clean sweep of the boys and girls’ U16 and U18 interpro titles on a memorable weekend in Dublin for the northern province.

While fans of the Red Hand regularly lament the lack of players coming through as a reason for a dearth of success at club level, the province’s young guns did their best to put paid to the theory at Grange Road and UCD, losing just once in 16 outings.

Banbridge hitman Stephen Dowds grabbed his ninth goal in four games — a haul that included two hat-tricks — as the U18 side got the point they needed in a 1-1 draw with Leinster to secure their crown.

Munster, for their part, put in a far more spirited performance earlier in the day but still went down 1-0 to Leinster, leaving them winless over the weekend.

The U16 Ulster side could even afford a final-day 1-0 loss to Leinster and still walk away with their title on goal difference.

That was largely due to a spoiler’s performance from Munster, who shipped some heavy defeats earlier in the competition but stunned Leinster 2-1 for the only win by either of the southern province’s boys teams, thanks to a brace from Bandon’s Irish U16 international Scott Sullivan.

Ulster’s U18 girls produced a near-flawless weekend to retain their title, taking maximum points from their four games.

Their sternest challenge came from Munster, who were well in the hunt until Vanessa Surgeoner’s second-half goal gave Ulster a 3-1 win.

That had followed up a promising opening-day 2-1 win over Leinster for the Munster girls, for whom Catholic Institute duo Katie Campbell and Naomi Carroll had hit the target.

But a 3-0 collapse to Connacht on the final day relegated them to fourth place, albeit on goal difference after they finished level on six points with Leinster and Connacht.

Ulster’s U16 girls were even more impressive en route to their win, also claiming four wins from four and scoring 15 times along the way, shipping just one goal to Connacht. Lucy McKee of Armagh, a star of last year’s win in Cork, was their top markswoman, claiming six of her side’s goals.

Leinster finished a distant second on seven points, with Munster third after Antonia McGrath’s double helped them to a 4-0 win over an out-of-sorts South East outfit.

The full rundown interpros results and goalscorers is available here, as are the details from a truncated weekend of action in lower divisions in Munster this weekend. Adrian Boehm was at both tournaments and took a huge selection of great photos which are available to view and download on the Irish Hockey Photographers Flickr.