They required penalties to get the job done, but Ulster ultimately triumphed in the Allianz GAA Football Inter-Provincial final at the end of a pulsating battle with Connacht at Croke Park on Saturday night.
Courtesy of well-taken goals by Matthew Tierney and Enda Smith, Connacht gained an early stranglehold in this game – the fourth and final contest to be played at GAA HQ this weekend under the proposed new rules for Gaelic football.
Ulster remained in contention throughout the opening period thanks in no small part to a combined haul of 0-7 from Darren McCurry and Niall Grimley, but with goalkeeper Connor Gleeson, Aidan O’Shea and Diarmuid Murtagh among those to find the target, Connacht led by four points at half-time.
Single efforts by Rian O’Neill and Kieran McGeary either side of an Aidan Forker two-pointer edged Ulster in front in the early moments of the second half, only for Diarmuid Murtagh to spectacularly fire home a third Connacht goal on 37 minutes.
However, Ulster eventually responded with a goal of their own from Ross McQuillan, and with O’Neill also knocking over a couple of magnificent two-pointers, Kieran Donnelly’s northerners were four clear inside the closing quarter.
Tierney and Odhran Murdock found the net at either end in a frantic finale, but just when it looked like Ulster were going to hold out for a narrow win, Johnny Heaney struck his second two-point score to force the game into a penalty shootout.
It remained exceedingly difficult to separate these sides with Connacht’s Enda Smith and Ulster star Murdock, incredibly, being the only ones to find the net off the opening 10 attempts from the spot. Yet Smith couldn’t find the target from his second effort after the shootout moved into sudden death and it was then left for Down’s Murdock to to determine the outcome with a smooth finish.
Scorers – Ulster: R O’Neill 0-8 (2 2p, 1f); D McCurry 0-5 (2f); N Grimley 0-3; A Forker 0-3 (1 2p); R McQuillan, O Murdock 1-0 each; C Kilpatrick 0-2; K McGeary, M Bradley 0-1 each. Connacht: M Tierney 2-1; D Murtagh 1-2 (0-1f); J Heaney 0-5 (2 2p); E Smith 1-1; C Gleeson 0-2 (‘45’); D Smith (f), A O’Shea, J Carney, C Murtagh 0-1 each.
Ulster: N Morgan; D Baker, P Faulkner, P Burns; D Guinness, A Forker, E McEvoy; N Grimley, C Kilpatrick; D O Baoill, R O’Neill, C Thompson; O Murdock, O Conaty, D McCurry. Subs: J McElroy, M Bradley, S McNally, O O’Neill, N Toner, G Smith, B McBennett, A Clarke, E McElholm, R McQuillan, P Havern, M Jordan, P McGrane, R McCaffrey, K McGeary.
Connacht: C Gleeson; J McGrath, B Stack, S Mulkerrin; C McDaid, J Daly, E McLoughlin; J Carney, J Maher; M Tierney, B McNulty, E Smith; D Murtagh, A O’Shea, P Towey. Subs: C Carroll, B Tuohy, D Cregg, R Fallon, M Diffley, J Heaney, S Cunnane, U Harney, C Cox, D Smith, C Murtagh, D Duffy, F Boland, P Spillane, L Gallagher, C Lally, D Rooney, S Brosnan, S Rafter, J Grace.
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).