Pride, passion, skill and intense competition were all in abundance in Kingscourt HC, Cavan today Saturday 9th May, as over 40 young girls from across the country proudly represented their Provinces at the Girl 40x20 Interprovincial Team of 10 event.
This event hugely entertaining and competitive saw five doubles pairings, aged between 13 & 17 compete on aggregate scoring, with many of the young girls competing at national level for the first time.
The first semi-final appeared difficult to call, but it was the Ulster girls who stepped up to the mark and dominating most of the games to establish a solid lead. This set the benchmark for victory, and left the Leinster girls with an uphill task to chase down the lead. In the end Ulster took the match 97-57.
The second semi-final saw last year’s winners Munster take on the traditionally strong Connacht girls. The Connacht girls were clearly up for the challenge and were leading by ten aces after the first two games. But the Munster girls regrouped and won the reminding three games to win 92-55.
In the 3rd/4th place playoff the match was very tight after the first two games with Connacht only leading by 2 aces. But Connacht proved too strong for Leinster in the reminding games and they won this match on a scoreline of 102-68.
The final proved to be very competitive that had the large supporting contingent on the edge of their seats. Munster went into an early lead after the first game with them winning it 21-8. Ulster fought back in the second game to win it 21-6, so Ulster led by 2 aces. Munster proved too strong in the next two games which meant they retained the Girls Interprovincial 40x20 title for the second year in a row with a game to spare. In the end the experience Munster girls won the final on a scoreline 83-68 to win this event for the third year in a row.
SF 1: Ulster dft Leinster 97-57
SF 2: Munster dft Connacht 92-55
3rd/4th: Connacht dft Leinster 102-68
Final: Munster dft Ulster 83-68