Rules debate rumbles on as Ulster win Interpros on penalties

Rian O'Neill kicked two superb two-point scores from outside the 40-metre arc as Ulster fought back from being six down to edge out Connacht in the Interprovincial Final at Croke Park in a penalty shootout

Ulster won the Interprovincial Football Final played under the proposed new rules in a penalty shootout after the game had finished 2-23 to 4-15 at Croke Park.

With the outcome level at full-time, a shootout immediately followed and it was a chaotic affair with Odhran Murdock's two successful penalties enough for Ulster to win 2-1 with Enda Smith the only player to beat Niall Morgan from the spot in Connacht's six attempts.

With the scoreline 1-1 after five penalties, Smith's second attempt was saved by Morgan before Murdock calmly rolled in his second spot-kick to seal Ulster's victory in the sparsely-attended contest at headquarters.

In terms of the new rules, man of the match Rian O'Neill's pair of superb two-point scores from outside the new 40-metre arc was a standout feature from the contest.

The Armagh star looked to have contributed to Ulster snatching victory in the final minute of normal time as his attempt at a levelling two-pointer was instead flicked to the net by Murdock.

That left Ulster two ahead with less than 30 seconds remaining but Connacht immediately broke downfield to level as Johnny Heaney stroked over a levelling score from outside the arc.

Connacht dominated early on as four-point goals from Matthew Tierney and Smith put them six ahead within four minutes.

The westerners were still 2-6 to 0-11 ahead after two quarters but despite Diarmuid Murtagh scoring another Connacht goal, Ulster largely dominated the third quarter as Ross McQuillan netted for Ulster in the 44th which put them four ahead at 1-21 to 3-9.

The sides were level with six minutes of normal time left after Tierney notched his second goal which set up the exciting finish as Murdock flicked in his four-pointer before Heaney's two-point shot ensured the shootout.

Ulster keeper Morgan, who wasn't quite as prominent in open play as during Friday's semi-final win over Munster, denied Tierney, Diarmuid Murtagh, Barry McNulty and finally Smith in the shootout with Donie Smith hitting a post.

Connacht keeper Gleeson blocked efforts from Rian O'Neill and Aidan Forker with Mark Bradley hitting the woodwork and Ciaran Thompson blazing Ulster's opening kick over the crossbar.

Matthew Tierney scored one of Connacht's early goals in Saturday's Interprovincial Final against Ulster

As regards observations on how the new rules showed up in the contest, the four-point goals gave Connacht an early six-point advantage but they were unable to build on it and Ulster's tally of one-pointers steadily cut into the lead.

Ulster didn't manage a two-pointer until Aidan Forker's typical outside-of-the-boot left-footed effort four minutes into the third quarter.

In terms of the Ulster playing style, safety-first hand passing remained the default method of play with Connacht more inclined to go long as they attempted to find the likes of Aidan O'Shea in the full-forward line.

Both sides, including O'Neill for Ulster, were pulled up for preventing play from restarting quickly which resulted in the ball being moved forward on a couple of occasions by referee David Coldick, who every utterance could be heard give his mic.

But while it's early days in the life of these new rules, coaches will be able to formulate strategies which will enable their defences to be reasonably packed - even given the 3v3 regulation which means at least three outfield players will have to remain in both halves at all times.

The new advanced mark advantage rule was sparingly employed, with Tierney availing of it on one occasion on Saturday evening as his shot at goal was blocked by Morgan, which allowed team-mate Donie Smith to then kick a point when play was brought back.

In the earlier third-place match, Leinster beat Munster 1-19 to 1-15 with Dublin's John Small and Cork's Chris Og Jones hitting the goals.