Ulster and Leinster Under 18 Girls served up a lunchtime cracker on Saturday afternoon in their final regular PwC Interprovincial game before finals weekend in Mullingar next week.
In all, twelve tries were scored in a thrilling encounter that hung in the balance until the final 10 minutes, where Leinster just about edged their hosts on a 39-27 scoreline.
A hat-trick from Casey Johnston was one of many encouraging highlights for Ulster, but the damage was done when the visitors hit Ulster for four first half tries in a devastating 20 minute spell.
Ulster wasted no time coming out of the blocks, and from the kick-off, they were putting the visitors defence under pressure.
Leinster’s stubborn defence appeared to be dealing with the early Ulster assault well, but their resistance eventually broke in the 10th minute when Ulster deservedly took the lead.
Strong carries from Alanna Scullion and Grace Fitzpatrick saw Ulster get within sight of the Leinster line, and with the line within touching distance, Johnston got the vital touchdown to open Ulster’s account.
Emily Irwin added the conversion to hand Ulster an early seven-point advantage.
That opening Ulster try sparked Leinster into life and just five minutes later, they were inches from their opening try but Maebh Ni Cholla couldn’t ground the ball in time before it was over the endline after Catherine murphy’s kick behind the Ulster defence.
But Leinster didn’t have long to wait for their next score. Just a minute later Ni Cholla picked up the ball from the base of a five-metre scrum and go over in the corner.
Sophie White was narrowly off target with the conversion, but she made no mistake in the 18th minute when Murphy went over for her side’s second try. The centre was on hand to finish under the posts after Leinster moved the ball quickly through the hands from another scrum.
The Leinster tails were up now and in and in the space of seven minutes, they crossed the Ulster line no less than three times.
Ulster were finding the pace of the Leinster back division too hot to handle. and through tries from Lauren Shevlin, Lily Brophy and Anna Cosgrove, Leinster took a firm grip on the scoreboard to go 29-7 ahead with half-time on the horizon.
But there was still time for one more attack, and with the clock almost in the red, Ulster launched one more attack before the turnaround.
In an almost similar attack to their first score, strong aggressive Ulster carries found the home team metres from the Leinster line, and for the second time Johnston went over to end the half on a high note for Ulster.
Half-time Ulster 12-29 Leinster
The second half started at breakneck pace with Ulster again flying out of the starting blocks, and it wasn’t long before they were rewarded for their endeavour’s.
Only three minutes had elapsed when scrum-half Rachel Douglas went over the whitewash for ulster’s third try, and four minutes later it got even better for the home team.
Great Ulster pressure following a Leinster lineout, saw Leinster cough up possession and centre Emily Irwin was first to the loose ball to grab Ulster’s fourth try of the day, and after being 22-points in arrears, Ulster were now within a score of their opponents.
With the game very much in the balance, the next score would be crucial, and the game’s decisive score arrived just short of the hour mark; and it went the way of the visitors.
On a rare visit to the Ulster 22 in the second half, Leinster moved the ball through the hands to Ni Cholla, and the quick feet from the scrumhalf allowed her to race clear of the covering Ulster defence to go over Leinster’s sixth try of the day.
Buoyed by that try, Leinster went on the hunt for another score, and they were duly rewarded through another try from loose-head prop Shevlin.
Too their credit, the Ulster Girls refused to throw-in the towel, and with the final play of the game, openside flanker Johnston went over for her third try of the game.
Dan carson's team will now heads to Finals Weekend in Mullingar with a renewed confidence.
Full-time: Ulster 27-39 Leinster
Scorers:
Ulster:
Tries: Johnston (3), Douglas, Irwin
Cons: Irwin
Leinster:
Tries: Ni Cholla (2), Murphy, Shevlin (2), Brophy, Cosgrove,
Cons: White (2),
Teams:
Ulster: 15. Zara Wright, 14. Katelyn Magee, 13. Emily Irwin, 12. Sophie Hamilton, 11. Anna Murray, 10. Cara Cowan-Smyth, 9. Rachel Dougles, 1. Grace Fitzpatrick, 2. Alanna Scullion, 3. Aoife Kirkpatrick, 4. Jessica long, 5. Dearbhla Smith, 6. Dakota Foster, 7. Casey Johnston, 8. Isabella Taylor.
Replacements: 16. Shannon Smyth, 17. Isabella Copeland, 18. Lexi Fannin, 19. Maise Bowden, 20. Charlotte Boyd, 21. Anna Brown, 22. Ava Fegan, 23. Eve Hetherington.
Leinster: 15. Robyn O’Reilly, 14. Lily Harney, 13. Saffron Adams, 12. Catherine Murphy, 11. Anna Cosgrove, 10. Sophie White, 9. Maebh Ni Cholla, 1. Lauren Shevlin, 2. Aimee Deering, 3. Simi Shanu, 4. Mila Mihajlovic, 5. Eimear Duffy, 6. Lily Brophy, 7. Milita Valteryte, 8. Emily Miller.
Replacements: 16. Zoe Byrne, 17. Emily Quinn, 18. Lucy Noons, 19. Ruby Osumah, 20. Niamh Pollard, 21. Maggie Kerins, 22. Amy O’Brien, 23. Caoimhe O’Mahony.