Energia Women’s All-Ireland League: Round 3 Review

Saturday October 26th 2019

Energia Women’s All-Ireland League: Suttonians 14 Old Belvedere 36; Blackrock College 12 Cooke 26; Galwegians 20 UL Bohemian 65; Malone 19 UL Bohemian 37.

 

SUTTONIANS 14 OLD BELVEDERE 36, Station Road
Scorers: Suttonians: Tries: Julia Bauer, Ciara Farrell; Con: Nicole Carroll 2
Old Belvedere: Tries: Alison Miller 4, Alba Marlasca Abasolo, Fiona Tuite;  Con: Aine Donnelly 3
HT: Suttonians 14 Old Belvedere 12

A four-try haul for Alison Miller helped Old Belvedere to a 36-14 win at Suttonians. It was by no means an easy run-out for the south Dubliners as they were forced to come back from a 14-12 deficit at half time. Suttonians poured a huge amount of effort into the first forty minutes as Julia Bauer and Ciara Farrell scored tries and Nicole Carroll nailed both conversions.

Alba Marlasca Abosolo and Fiona Tuite also scored for Belvo meaning all of their scores came from the back three.

SUTTONIANS: Sophie Gibney, Michele Mulville, Catherine Martin, Kerry Browne, Molly Fitzgerald, Nicole Carroll, Lauren Farrell Mc Cabe, Grainne Tummon, Julia O’Connor, Julia Bauer, Aifric O’Brien, Roisin O’Driscoll, Ciara Farrell, Helen Boylan, Rebecca Sullivan. Replacements: Carrie O’Keeffe, Ciara O’Brien, Alexa Higginbotham, Catherine Murphy, Louise Catinot, Jenny Bowler, Brenda Barr

OLD BELVEDERE: Alba Marlasca Abasolo, Fiona Tuite, Elise O’Byrne White, Jemma Jackson, Alison Miller (Capt.), Aine Donnelly, Aoife Byrne, Christina Furlong, Meghan Keaveney, Rose Alice Murphy, Niamh O’Flynn, Jan Carroll, Emma Lackey, Franziska Klappoth, Alannah Fowley. Replacements: Dawn Keegan, Jessica Spain, Niamh Ni Dhroma, Claire McLaughlin, Giovanna Valli, Danielle Downey, Jennifer Murphy

MALONE 19 RAILWAY UNION 37, Gibson Park
Scorers: Malone: Tries: Holly Brannigan 2, Lauren Mc Maginnes; Con: Alexa Grudgings 2
Railway Union: Tries: Cliodhna O’Connor, Ailsa Hughes, Meg Kendal, Lisa Callan, Emer O’Mahony, Deirdre Roberts, Aoife Doyle; Con: Christine Coffey
HT: Malone 12 Railway Union 17

Malone ensured a competitive affair as they hosted Energia Women’s All-Ireland League champions for the first time at Gibson Park. Railway Union came away with a 37-19 win, but Grace Davitt’s side will feel they are learning well on the job in their debut season at this level.

Cliodhna O’Connor opened the scoring before Malone took the lead after 10 minutes when the returning Alexa Grudgings converted Holly Brannigan’s try. Railway needed Leinster pedigree to regain the lead with scores from Meg Kendal and Ailsa Hughes. Malone rallied again to leave a score between the sides at half-time before the Champions kicked on to secure the bonus point after the break.

MALONE: Holly Brannigan, Ella Durkan, Olivia Andrews, Fern Wilson, Emma Jordan, Alexa Grudgings, Jenna Stewart, Sarah Murphy, Neve Jones, Gemma McCamley, Chloe McIlwaine, Rebecca Lawlor, Eimear Hagan, Shirelle Wilson, Lauren Mc Maginnes. Replacements: Ashleigh Currie, Nicole Hutchinson, Naomi McCord, Brogain Ni Chiarrain, Peita McAlister, Jill Stephens, Jasmine Ward

RAILWAY UNION: Aoife O’Shaughnessy, Cliodhna O’Connor, Meg Kendal, Deirdre Roberts, Emer O’Mahony, Molly Scuffil McCabe, Ailsa Hughes, Aoife Moore, Lisa Callan, Sonia Mc Dermott, Meaghan Kenny, Keelin Brady, Lisa Marie Murphy, Ciara Cooney, Daisy Earle. Replacements: Molly Boyne, Anna O’Neill, Orliath McAuliffe, Hazel Summons, Christine Coffey, Saoirse Mc Grath, Aoife Doyle.

Galwegians 20 UL Bohemian 65, Crowley Park
Scorers: Galwegians: Tries: Ursula Sammon, Dearbhla Canty, Marina Gray; Pen: Nicole Fowley; Con: Nicole Fowley;
UL Bohemian:Tries: Stephanie Nunan, Fiona Reidy, Claire Bennett, Laura O’Mahony, Aoife Corey, Rachel Allen, Lily Brady, Clodagh O’Halloran 2, Niamh Kavanagh, Edel Murphy; Con: Nicole Fitzgerald 4, Rachel Allen
HT: Galwegians 10 UL Bohemian 27

UL Bohemian maintained a scoring average of over nine tries per game in the first block of fixtures with a 65-20 win at Galwegians. It was certainly an improved performance from the home side, but UL Bohs had the bonus point wrapped up before half-time.

Tries from replacements Lily Brady and Niamh Kavanagh demonstrated the strength-in-depth that Bohs Head Coach Fiona Hayes has at her disposal while the range of try scoring options is also worthy of mention – the 29 tries scored to date have come from 17 different played in 11 different positions.

GALWEGIANS: Marina Gray, Rhiannan Hoey, Emma Keane, Ursula Sammon, Tess Peters, Nicole Fowley, Mary Healy, Sarah Glynn, Tracy Lawlor, AnnMarie O’Hora, Jordan Hopkins, Fiona Farrell, Diane Mills, Sabina Egan, Dearbhla Canty. Replacements: Lisa Anglim, Catriona Meehan, Stacy Hanley, Pamela Devany, Chloe Mc Crann, Caoimhe Harte, Rachel Millar, Julie Lyons.

UL BOHEMIAN: Laura O’Mahony, Erin Coll, Stephanie Nunan, Rachel Allen, Aoife Corey, Nicole Fitzgerald, Helen McDermott, Chloe Pearse, Kate Sheehan, Fiona Reidy, Claire Bennett, Ciara O’Halloran, Clodagh O’Halloran, Edel Murphy, Sarah Quinn. Replacements: Laura Delaney, Lily Brady, Abby Richardson , Emma Doolan, Becca O Shea, Niamh Kavanagh, Sorcha Ni Uallachain

BLACKROCK COLLEGE 12 COOKE 26, Stradbrook
Scorers: Blackrock: Tries: Caoimhe Molloy 2; Con: Valerie Power
Cooke: Tries: Aisling O’Connell, Hannah Kilgore, Ilse Van Staden, Eliza Downey; Con: Victoria Irwin 3
HT: Blackrock College 7 Cooke 7

Cooke made amends for a double loss to Blackrock College last season with a 26-12 win at Stradbrook. Cooke’s scrum has been a powerful weapon to date, but Head Coach Joe McTaggert was confident in making changes as Aisling O’Connell reverted to the second row and Ilse Van Staden was held back to come on as a replacement and finish the game.

Caoimhe Molloy scored tries in either half for ‘Rock but McTaggert’s gambit paid off with both O’Connell and Van Staden scoring and Hannah Kilgore and Eliza Downey helping Cooke notch all five available points.

The players have a bye week next week after four successive weekends of Energia League and Cup action.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: Natasja Behan, Ray Lawless, Maeve Liston, Ciara Scanlan, Aisling Brosnan, Valerie Power, Laura Delaney, Christina Haney, Emma Hooban, AnnMarie Rooney, Mairead Holohan, Hannah Woods, Riana Roche, Caoimhe Molloy, Alison Coleman. Replacements: Aoife Browne, Rebecca Yue, Anna Potterton, Orla Molloy, Lisa Mullen, Roisin Crowe, Rosie Newton

COOKE: Teah Maguire, Eliza Downey, Kelly Mc Cormill, Victoria Irwin, Dolores Hughes, Amanda Morton, Hannah Kilgore, Emma Kearney, Lesley Megarity, Hanna Harris, Shannon Heapes, Aisling O’Connell, Laura Cairns, Katie Hetherington, Beth Cregan. Replacements: Ilse Van Staden, Natasha Moore, Breana Kaio Te Whetu