Ulster’s footballers were the big winners of the day in the Interprovincial semi-finals as they easily saw off Connacht at Markievicz Park.
Peter Harte, Mark Poland and Martin Penrose all scored for the holders as they claimed a 3-16 to 0-13 win, in a game that was well over long before the finish.
Harte and Poland both goaled early, with the latter playing the in-form Tyrone man in for the first before finishing neatly past Roscommon man Geoffrey Claffey to raise a green flag of his own.
Owen Mulligan and Conleith Gilligan were among the points scorers as Joe Kernan’s men accrued a 2-4 to 0-3 lead. Nickey Joyce’s free and two from Conor Mortimer accounted for Connacht’s scores at that point, with the Mayo man then getting his side’s first score from play and a third free.
However, they trailed 2-10 to 0-5 at half-time, with Penrose, Dan Gordon, Rory Kavanagh and defender James Loughrey all getting on the mark for Kernan’s dominant force.
Roscommon’s Donal Shine and Mortimer tried to keep Connacht in it after the break, but Ulster – with Mark McKeever and Mulligan splitting the posts – were always in the distance.
When Harte set up Penrose (1-4 in all) for a second goal scored by a Tyrone man and a third for Ulster the game was up, allowing the northern province into the final where they will face Leinster’s conquerors, Munster.