Wheelchair hurling.
THE M Donnelly Inter-Provincial Wheelchair Hurling/Camogie Inter Provincial Finals took place in Sligo I.T last Saturday.
The atmosphere was electric as a massive travelling support welcomed the four provincial wheelchair hurling teams into the Knocknarea arena.
The Calry St Joseph’s underage hurlers formed a guard of honour and each team was led in by Team Ambassadors who carried the provincial flag, and the crowd were entertained with music from St Farnan’s and Calry St Joseph’s Scor na nOg winning teams.
The scene was set for the first game at 12.00pm between Connacht and Munster, and the teams did not disappoint as they played with passion and commitment, with the lead changing on a number of occasions until the final few minutes when Connacht got a lucky break and scored two goals and won the game 7 goals to 4 goals.
In the nest game Leinster overcame Ulster in a titanic struggle on a score of 4 goals to 3 goals.
Then Connacht and Leinster went head to head and for the first half the home team gave as good as they got with possession fiercely contested and scores at a premium.
In the second half Leinster scored 4 goals to Connacht’s one goal.
In the fourth game Ulster had a very narrow victory over Munster on a sore of 4 goals to 3 goals. In the fifth game Connacht put in a very spirited performance and could not match the team work of Ulster and ended up losing the game 4 goals to one.
In the final round robin game Munster put in a tremendous performance before losing to Leinster 5 goals to 3 goals. The Shield final was then played between Munster and Connacht.
This was a fantastic game of fast and skillful hurling, but try as they might Connacht could not find the net and ended up losing the game 3 goals to nil.
The Martin Donnelly Final was played between Ulster and Leinster. This was a titanic battle and fiercely contested, with the game going from end to end and neither side able to find the net.
Halfway through the second half after a slight mistake in the Ulster defence, Leinster scored a fortuitous goal and this led to two more goals and they ended up winning 3 goals to 0 gl.
Gerry O’Connor Sligo GAA Secretary presented the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial Cup to Leinster captain Sean Bennett and he also presented the Donal Murtagh player of the tournament to Leinster midfielder Lorcan Madden.
This was the final action in a thrilled packed festival of marvellous hurling where all players did their best for their Province.
All players and supporters left the venue uplifted and with a smile in their face after a fantastic day of very competitive wheelchair hurling.