Munster Back To The Millennium
Munster booked their place in the final of the Celtic League on February 1st with a comprehensive 42-10 victory over Ulster at a packed Thomond Park.
Munster opened the scoring with a Ronan O’Gara penalty and he added a second before stroking two touchline conversions after tries from John Hayes and Alan Quinlan. Munster’s third try came from John Kelly and they took a 28-3 lead into the break, Ulster’s sole score a David Humphrey’s penalty. The vsitors were forced to play almost the entire game with 14 men, after Justin Fitzpatrick was sent off in the 6th minute.
Ulster opened brightly in the second half exerting pressure inside the Munster 22. Munster were reduced to 14 for the second time when Frank Sheehan was yellow carded and the arrival of Andy Ward gave Ulster added impetus.
However, they were unable to break the Munster line and in the 61st minute Munster lifted the siege to score their fourth try under the posts, this time Mike Mullins doing the damage. To their credit Ulster’s pressure yielded a try from David Humphreys who then converted, but Munster ended it with a try on the right hand side from Mick Galwey who had come on as a second half replacement for Paul O’Connell.