Sunday 15th January 2023, Ulster v Leinster in the Interpro Under 16, Under 18 and Under 21 levels at Havelock Park, home to Banbridge Hockey Club. The first match of the day saw the U16s play beating Leinster 5-3, this will mean that they have Munster to play on Sunday 29th January to win the tournament. The team is coached by Jack Kyle who had this to say, “On Sunday the boys get the chance to put all their hard work over the last number of months to good use when we play Munster in the decider of the Interpro Tournament 2023. The focus and commitment from the whole squad has been fantastic. They have been a great group of boys to coach and have given us (the coaches) everything that we have asked of them. I hope they head to Dublin full of confidence and enjoy themselves in what is shaping up to be a brilliant finals day. I would like to take the opportunity to wish good luck to Munster ahead of Sundays clash.”
The second match of the day saw the U18 Ulster team take on their Leinster equivalents. After a hard fought match, the Ulster team unfortunately were not able to come away with a win against a tough Leinster side, but currently have 6 points, with Munster sitting on 7 points. Congratulations to Leinster on their tournament win, winning 4 out 4 matches. A win for the Ulster boys on Sunday will see them take second place in the tournament.
Finally, the U21s were able to step up and play against the Leinster team in a game that if they won would mean the Interpro trophy was theirs. It was an intense and high scoring game that saw a total of 6 goals, the Ulster team finished with 4 goals to Leinster’s 2 meaning that the Ulster men take home the win. This is still with one match to play against Munster, and regardless of the result of this match, Ulster will take home the trophy. Head coach Greg Allen said that “the guys are still desperate to beat Munster this Sunday and take home 4 out of 4 victories as well as lift the trophy. It’s been a fantastic run for us and the guys deserve not only the tournament win but to remain undefeated throughout it.”
Best of luck to all the teams on Sunday and we can’t wait to hear from the guys to see what the end results are. Congratulations to the Under 21s and here is hoping for a final win against Munster!
