Leinster 1-14

Connacht 1-12

Leinster withstood a second half fightback by Connacht in Nenagh this afternoon to qualify for the inter-provincial hurling final.

Wexford's Lee Chin scored 1-4 in a man of the match display for a Leinster side that finished with 14 men after Colin Fennelly was sent off midway through the second half after an incident involving Paul Killeen. The winners also lost sub Ryan O'Dwyer to an injury which resulted in 10 minutes of injury-time being added on at the end.

In a game that produced a whopping 28 wides, Leinster led their all-Galway opponents by 1-7 to 1-2 at the interval with Chin's fifth-minute goal giving them the perfect start. Ciaran Hetheron's charges had 1-2 on the board before Conor Cooney eventually opened Connacht's account in the 13th minute from a free.

Joseph Cooney brought the Westerners closer when he netted five minutes later, but Leinster grabbed four of the next five points to take a useful lead into the break.

With Conor Cooney and Niall Burke in fine scoring form, Connacht rallied in the second half and must have fancied their chances when Fennelly received his marching orders. However, late points from O'Dwyer and fellow subs Gerry Keegan and Marty Kavangh saw Leinster qualify for the final against either Munster or Ulster.

Scorers - Leinster: L Chin 1-4, S Dooley 0-3 (3fs), C Crummey, S Ryan, W Walsh, C Fennelly, M Kavanagh, G Keegan and R O'Dwyer 0-1 each. Connacht: J Cooney 1-0, C Cooney (3fs) and N Burke (1f) 0-3 each, C Mannion, J Flynn (sl), D Burke, A Harte, J Skehill (f) and P Flaherty 0-1 each.  

Leinster: J Dempsey (Offaly); M Whelan (Laois), T Doyle (Westmeath), L Ryan (Wexford); P Walsh (Kilkenny), K Joyce (Kilkenny), C Crummey (Dublin); C Fogarty (Kilkenny), S Ryan (Offaly); W Walsh (Kilkenny), L Chin (Wexford), C Dwyer (Laois); S Dooley (Offaly), E Dillon (Dublin), C Fennelly (Kilkenny). Subs: R O'Dwyer (Dublin) for Dillon (h.t.), G Keegan (Kildare) for Dwyer (38), M Kavanagh (Carlow) for Dooley (38), D Murphy (Carlow) for O'Dwyer (60).

Connacht (Galway unless stated): J Skehill; M Donohue, P Killeen, J Hanbury; G McInerney, P Mannion, M Conneely; J Coen, D Burke; S Maloney, J Cooney, C Cooney; B Molloy, C Mannion, J Flynn. Subs: N Burke for Molloy (39), D Glennon for Flynn (39), A Harte for Coen (40), C Freeman for C Cooney (44), P Brehony for Donohue (47), P Flaherty for Killeen (50), M Keating for D Burke (55), J Kilkenny (Roscommon) for McInerney (57), C Dolan (Roscommon) for Maloney (57), S McInerney for Keating (60).

Referee: C Lyons (Cork)

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