THERE WERE VICTORIES for Tipperary and Antrim this evening in their respective Munster and Ulster finals.
Tipp beat Clare 1-18 to 0-17 in in the Intermediate final in Nenagh, with David Butler scoring an all-important first-half goal in an encounter that was closely fought throughout.
And while Tipp led for the majority of the contest, their opponents were left to rue the amount of wides they racked up, which exceeded single figures.
The result means that Tipp are now three-quarters of the way to a Munster Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, in the Ulster U21 Final in Armagh, Antrim secured what was ultimately a comfortable 2-20 to 1-12 victory against Derry.
Antrim dominated the opening stages, taking a 1-5 to 0-05 lead, before a Shane Farren goal brought the teams level.
A second Antrim goal then gave them a 2-10 to 1-08 lead at half-time, as they began to look increasingly superior.
Antrim subsequently continued to look the better side in the second half, but some excellent goalkeeping from Oisin O’Doherty kept the score down, even if Derry’s comeback hopes were gradually waning.
And so, despite O’Doherty’s heroics, Antrim ultimately secured the Ulster U21 title quite comfortably, winning the trophy for the fourth year in succession.
