Ciaran Byrne, Leinster, and Ian Maguire, Munster, in action at Croke Park. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile
Allianz interprovincial football series shield final
Leinster 1-19 (23) Munster 1-15 (19)
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
Dubliner John Small, no stranger to success at Croke Park, clipped the crucial goal for his province as a much improved Leinster edged out Munster to claim the Allianz interprovincial football series shield.
Both teams were beaten in last night's semi-finals, and Leinster heavily so, but they bounced back with strong performances and while Munster were defeated again they had the Man of the Match in Kerry's Killian Spillane who struck 0-9 overall.
The tournament is being used as a vehicle to road test the Football Review Committee's 'rules enhancements' and Spillane struck two long-range scores from beyond the new 40m arc that were worth two points each.
But he left Croke Park empty handed with Leinster too strong overall and positive performances from both Small brothers, John and Paddy, as well as Kildare's Kevin Feely, Ciaran Byrne of Louth and Ciaran Kilkenny.
Munster trailed by just a point after a strong third quarter but late Leinster points from Mark Barry, Ronan Wallace and Wicklow's Dean Healy set the seal on the win.
It was a near role reversal from a much improved Leinster having suffered a heavy loss in last night's semi-final when they were as good as beaten by half-time.
They trailed after the first quarter by 0-2 to 1-11 in that encounter whereas this time they were 1-7 to 0-0 up at the same stage and cruising.
The Dessie Dolan managed group clearly learned vital lessons from their initial outing as they took greater advantage of the new rules this time.
John Small's sixth minute goal, for instance, came after Ciaran Byrne picked out Kevin Feely for an advanced mark inside the 20m line.
Feely offloaded to Small who hammered the ball to the net but had the Dubliner kicked wide, or had the move broken down, Leinster would have got a free for a handy point anyway.
Small also capitalised on the solo-and-go option later in the half when he restarted quickly around midfield after winning a free and began a move that ended in an Eoin Murchan Leinster point.
A Feely score from a free in the 11th minute came after Munster were punished for only having two players inside the opposition half.
Munster, who only lost by four points to Ulster in their semi-final, finally got a score in the 19th minute when Spillane slotted a free from just outside the arc.
That meant two precious points for the southerners and Brian McNamara of Clare did likewise from play shortly after.
Still, Leinster were sitting pretty with a 1-12 to 0-6 half-time lead which amounted to a 10-point gap between the teams under the new scoring system.
Daniel Flynn, Leinster's spare midfielder at the throw-in, picked up possession in the opening seconds of the second-half and burst through for a point.
Leinster got the margin out to a dozen points before Munster suddenly burst into life.
Referee Conor Lane put down the vanishing foam for a 33rd minute free that Spillane converted outside the arc, yielding two points.
Emmet McMahon pointed then before the Jones goal which came after a Stephen Cluxton Leinster kick-out - which had to travel outside the 40m arc under the new rules - was turned over.
On and on it went with Munster whittling down the deficit to just two points at the three quarter mark, 1-16 to 1-14.
Leinster lost Laois full-forward Evan O'Carroll to a worrying knee injury in the final quarter.
Spillane could have wiped out the deficit on two separate occasions in the final quarter with frees from outside the arc but failed to convert.
Jones eventually pointed for Munster to leave one it and now it seemed a matter of when and not if Munster would reel Leinster in.
A long-range point at that stage could have won it for Munster but McMahon dropped an attempt short and Leinster wrapped it up with late points at the Hill 16 End from Barry, Wallace and Dean Healy.
* Scoring key (4pt goal - 2pt score - 1pt score)
Scorers for Leinster: John Small 1-0, Kevin Feely 0-4 (2f), Paddy Small 0-3, Ciaran Kilkenny 0-2 (1f), Ciaran Byrne 0-2, Ray Connellan 0-1, Ciaran Downey 0-1, Eoin Murchan 0-1, Daniel Flynn 0-1, Darren Gallagher 0-1, Mark Barry 0-1, Ronan Wallace 0-1, Dean Healy 0-1
Scorers for Munster: Killian Spillane 0-9 (0-2-5), Chris Og Jones 1-2 (1-0-2), Brian McNamara 0-2 (0-1-0), Emmet McMahon 0-1, Ian Maguire 0-1.
Leinster: Stephen Cluxton; Eoin Porter, Donal Keogan, Eoin Murchan; Ronan Wallace, Brian Howard, John Small; Ray Connellan, James McCarthy; Ciaran Byrne, Ciaran Kilkenny, Sean Bugler; Paddy Small, Kevin Feely, Ciaran Downey.
Interchange: Mikey Bambrick, Mark Barry, Peter Cunningham, Ross Dunphy, Daniel Flynn, Darren Gallagher, Dean Healy, Ryan Houlihan, Killian Roche, Ronan Jones, Paul Kingston, Craig Lennon, Evan O'Carroll, Lee Pearson, Kevin Quinn.
Munster: Josh Ryan; Maurice Shanley, Jimmy Feehan, Damien Burke; Darragh Cashman, Tadgh Morley, Mattie Taylor; Sean Walsh, Colm O'Callaghan; Ian Maguire, Eoin Cleary, Emmet McMahon; James Naughton, Chris Og Jones, Killian Spillane.
Interchange: Chris Kelly, Sean Meehan, Sean O'Dea, Caoimhin Walsh, Tommy Walsh, Alan Sweeney, Dermot Ryan, Mark Stokes, Conor O Currin, Diarmuid O'Connor, Paul Walsh, Aaron Griffin, Danny Neville, Darragh Brennan, Donal O'Sullivan, Brian McNamara.
Referee: Conor Lane (Cork).
