WOMEN'S HOCKEY/Interprovincial Championship: Leinster overcame snow, sleet, hail and gale-force winds in Galway over the weekend, not to mention an Ulster side with five-in-a-row aspirations, to win their first senior interprovincial title since Fintan Butler's crew triumphed at Grange Road back in 1997. A 2-2 draw with Ulster yesterday, following 2-0 and 3-0 wins over Connacht and Munster, clinched Rudi Wortmann's team the Stephen Doyle trophy on goal difference over the defending champions.
As expected it all came down to the meeting of Leinster and Ulster in a game that was interrupted for seven minutes while players and spectators sought shelter from a blizzard.
By then Ulster were a goal up through Shauna Parkhill (12th minute), but Viv Doran levelled in the 28th minute when she steered home Nikki Symmons' switch from a short corner.
Jill Orbinson restored Ulster's lead five minutes before half-time, firing low to Mary Goode's right from another corner, but the more youthful Leinster side showed immense character in the second half, against more experienced opponents, to battle their way back in to the game.
Cathy McKean, superb through the weekend, deflected home Trish Conway's short-corner strike after 47 minutes to equalise for Leinster who went on to dominate the rest of the game.
The watching Irish coach Riet Kuper won't name her additions to the Irish panel until later this week but you would get short odds on UCD's Linda O'Neill being promoted from the under-21s - she was simply superb, at right-back and centre-back, in all three games.
Wortmann, rewarded for his youthful selection policy, named Ciara O'Brien as Leinster's outstanding player of the tournament, giving special mention to O'Neill, McKean, Linda Caulfield and Daphne Sixsmith. Doran, too, and Anya Bowers impressed while captain Conway led her team with typical fire and invention.
Munster, for whom goalkeeper Roisita Wolfe and Elaine Bromell shone, finished third in the tournament after drawing 1-1 with Connacht yesterday - Claire Deacy, Clodagh Grealy, Orla Ryan and Tara Browne excelled for the hosts.
Meanwhile, Kuper just about summoned up a nervous grin in response to news of the draw for November's World Cup finals. "It will be a hell of an experience," she said, with 'hell', perhaps, being the operative word.
Ireland, seeded 15th out of 16 teams (only Scotland are ranked lower) have been drawn in a pool with hosts Australia, Holland (second seeds), Spain, England, South Africa, Japan and the USA or India.
Irish goalkeeper Tara Browne, though, spoke for most of her team mates when she said, "I've always dreamt of playing Australia and now it's going to happen - in their own back yard, too."
