The Ulster U20 team travelled to play their Leinster counterparts at Donnybrook on the evening of Friday 20th September.
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The Ulster team needed to score four tries and limit Leinster to at least an eight point gap if they were to have any chance of retaining their Inter Provincial title. The young Ulster team gave everything in a very physical encounter which ended as a 17-17 draw. This result ensured it was Leinster U20s who won the Inter Provincial Championship this season.
The Ulster team started well determined to play with the ball in hand at every opportunity. Early Ulster pressure resulted in a try for Lorcan Dow which Mark Best converted to give the Ulster team a 7-0 lead. Leinster responded positively but missed a penalty opportunity a few minutes later. Leinster had a player “binned” on twelve minutes but, unfortunately, the Ulster team was unable to take advantage when a backline attack ended with a knock on. Fifteen minutes into the game the Leinster team had a rare incursion into Ulster territory. Cian Kelleher took advantage of some poor Ulster defence to score a try which Ross Byrne converted to draw the game level at 7-7. From the restart Josh Atkinson picked up an injury to be replaced by Ben Alexander. The Ulster team continued to dominate both territory and possession but found the Leinster defence to be well-organised. The Ulster team lost Mark Best to injury on thirty minutes. Mark was replaced by Connor McKee. Ulster continued to dominate proceedings and got reward for their endeavours when they stole a ball from the Leinster scrum, spread the ball wide to the left and Ross Adair needed no invitation to finish off a fine attacking move close to the interval. The try was not converted but Ulster had a 12-7 lead. However, the Leinster team showed some steely determination and, on only their second visit to the Ulster 22m area, Ian Fitzpatrick, ran in for an unconverted try to leave the score reading 12-12 at the interval.
Leinster started the second half strongly but the Ulster defence held firm. Midway through the second half the Leinster team had a player shown the “Red Card” for a second “Yellow Card” offence. From the resultant penalty, Ulster opted for the scrum. They won the scrum comfortably and No 8, Lorcan Dow, had good reason to believe he had scored a try following a strong run down the blindside of the scrum. There was utter amazement in the Ulster ranks when the referee indicated the ball had been knocked on in goal and awarded Leinster a five metre scrum. The Ulster pack was penalised at the scrum and Leinster relieved the pressure. Leinster then put Ulster under pressure but the Ulster boys defended well with Paddy Colhoun combining well with David Busby to run the ball out of defence. On thirty eight minutes a good Ulster scrum provided the platform for Josh Bingham to put in a clever cross field kick. Jacob Knight gathered the ball and passed inside to David Busby who touched down for the try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but Ulster now had a 17-12 lead going into the final stages of the game. It was now the last throw of the dice for the Leinster team but they threw everything into attack. The Ulster team defended well and was unfortunate to be penalised close to the Ulster line. Leinster took a quick penalty and good hands presented Ian Fitzpatrick with the opportunity to squeeze in for his second try of the game. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the score was now 17-17. It was sufficient to secure a point for Leinster and ensure their status as Ireland U20 Champions. The Ulster team had given their all and players and management can be justly proud of the Ulster U20’s performance throughout this game.
