Ulster will face Munster in Saturday’s Allianz GAA Football Inter-Provincial Series final after seeing off the challenge of Munster at Croke Park.
After Ulster had stormed four points clear early on with unanswered efforts from Joe McElroy, Darren McCurry, Ciaran Thompson and Odhran Murdock, Munster finally responded with a white flag score by Killian Spillane.
The energetic northerners bolstered their tally with points courtesy of Rian O’Neill and Daire O Baoill, before Emmet McMahon split the uprights to leave Munster four adrift at the end of the first quarter. While the experimental rules around scoring weren’t showcased in the opening 15 minutes, that subsequently changed when goalkeeper Niall Morgan got forward to kick a two-pointer from play in between singles by Eoin McElholm and McElroy.
McCurry and Armagh midfielder Niall Grimley found the range for the northern province after Darragh Brennan had scored at the opposite end, but Munster gained a new lease of life when a scrambled goal from Sean Walsh was followed by a Chris Og Jones point.
Yet despite Spillane adding a two-point free, the boots of Mark Bradley and Daniel McGuinness had Ulster leading 0-14 to 1-6 at half-time.
This left John Cleary’s side just four behind under the new rules and their deficit was cut to the bare minimum thanks to points from Jones, Spillane and Ian Maguire on the restart. However, Ulster fired back with scores by Oisin O’Neill, Bradley and Grimley, and they then created significant daylight in the final-quarter with a successful Kieran McGeary free and a Grimley two-pointer.
Aaron Griffin and Ulster’s Pat Havern traded scores as the final whistle approached, and although skipper Diarmuid O’Connor produced a 1-1 salvo in the closing moments, Marc Jordan and Niall Toner kicked late points at the opposite end to leave Munster facing into a shield final against Leinster on Saturday.
SCORERS
Ulster: N Grimley 0-4 (2 pt), N Morgan 0-2 (2 pt), D McCurry 0-2 (f), M Bradley, J McElroy 0-2 each, N Toner (f), P Havern (f), K McGeary (f), D Guinness, D O Baoill, C Thompson, R O’Neill, O O’Neill, E McElholm, M Jordan, O Murdock.
Munster: D O’Connor 1-1, K Spillane 0-4 (2 pt f, 1 pt f), S Walsh 1-0, C Og Jones 0-2, E McMahon, A Griffin, D Brennan, I Maguire 0-1 each.
ULSTER: N Morgan; D Baker, E McEvoy, P Burns; D Guinness, A Forker, D O Baoill; N Grimley, O Murdock; J McElroy, R O’Neill, C Thompson; O Conaty, D McCurry, E McElholm.
Subs: S McNally, O O’Neill, N Toner, P Faulkner, G Smith, B McBennett, A Clarke, R McQuillan, P Havern, M Jordan, P McGrane, R McCaffrey, K McGeary, M Bradley, C Kilpatrick.
MUNSTER: C Kelly; S Meehan, J Feehan, D Burke; A Sweeney, T Walsh, M Taylor; D O’Connor, B McNamara; J Naughton, E Cleary, E McMahon; D Neville, C Og Jones, K Spillane.
Subs: J Ryan, S O’Dea, M Shanley, C Walsh, T Morley, D Cashman, D Ryan, M Stokes, C O Currin, C O’Callaghan, S Walsh, P Walsh, A Griffin, D Brennan, D O’Sullivan, I Maguire.
Referee: B Tiernan (Dublin).