Late goal earns Munster place in Interpro final

Munster 1-13 Connacht 1-10

A superbly taken goal by Limerick's Pa Ranahan, a minute before half-time, was crucial as Munster beat Connacht in atrocious conditions before an attendance of 350 at the Gaelic Grounds tonight.

Donnacha O'Connor had a fine outing for Munster and scored six points - one free and one sideline - as he steered his province to a deserved M Donnelly Interprovincial SFC semi-final win.

Munster made a bright start and had three points from Paddy Kelly, O'Connor and Colm O'Neill inside the opening five minutes and Paul Kerrigan was inches wide with a goal attempt.

Mark Breheny notched Connacht's opening point and after six minutes, and just moments later Paul Conroy struck a powerful shot which beat goalkeeper Paul Fitzgerald but came back off the butt of the post.

Then Joe Bergin was fouled as he bore down on goal and referee Cormac Reilly awarded a penalty from which David Kelly scored - the Sligo attacker followed up after Fitzgerald had saved his initial effort.

Kelly tagged on a point and O'Connor had two more Munster points followed by another brace from Waterford dual player Gary Hurney.

David Kelly pulled a point back for Connacht but two more by O’Connor had Munster three in front.

Just on half-time, a splendid Munster move involving four players ended with Ranahan blasting past David Clarke to leave it 1-9 to 1-3 in favour of Munster at the interval.

Peadar Gardiner had the first point for Connacht on the resumption but a pointed free from O'Neill and a Liam O’Lionnain effort from had Munster seven points clear and they had a relatively untroubled path through to the final.

Scorers - Munster: D O'Connor 0-6 (0-1f, 0-1sl), C O'Neill 0-3 (0-1f), P Ranahan 1-0, G Hurney 0-2, L O'Lionnain, P Kelly 0-1 each

Connacht: D Kelly 1-4 (0-3f), M Clancy 0-3, M Breheny, J Glancy, D Meehan 0-1 each

MUNSTER: P Fitzgerald (Tipperary); T O’Gorman (Waterford), J McCarthy (Limerick), P Reidy (Kerry); M O’Gorman (Waterford), M Shields (Cork), P Ranahan (Limerick); A O’Connor (Cork), R Costigan (Tipperary); P Kelly (Cork), D O’Connor (Cork), P Kerrigan (Cork); G Hurney (Waterford), C O’Neill (Cork), L O’Lionnain (Waterford).

Subs used: A Walsh (Cork) for Kerrigan (52 mins).

CONNACHT: D Clarke (Mayo); C Harrison (Sligo), N McGuire (Sligo), J McKeon (Leitrim); P Gardiner (Mayo), D Blake (Galway), G Bradshaw (Galway); J Bergin (Galway), N Coleman (Galway); M Breheny (Sligo), B Moran (Mayo), P Conroy (Galway); S Kilbride (Roscommon), A O'Shea (Mayo), D Kelly (Sligo).

Subs used: J Glancy (Leitrim) for Kilbride (35 mins), M Clancy (Galway) for Breheny (40), D Meehan (Galway) for Bradshaw (47), S Davey (Sligo) for Conroy (57).

Referee, C Reilly (Meath)