Familiar Foes Clash In Women’s Division One Final
Dubarry Park in Athlone, the home of Buccaneers RFC, will be a hive of activity on Saturday as the Women’s All-Ireland League Division One and Division Two finals take place.
2008/09 WOMEN’S ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE FINALS: Saturday, April 25
DIVISION ONE FINAL –
Blackrock v UL Bohemians, Dubarry Park, 3pm
DIVISION TWO FINAL –
St. Mary’s College v City of Derry, Dubarry Park, 1pm
– Admission is free
This year’s Division One final between Blackrock and UL Bohemians is a repeat of the 2008 decider which was won by the Dubliners in dramatic fashion.
Victory went to Blackrock for the first time with a single successful drop kick deciding the match after the sides finished level at 10-10 at full-time and after extra-time.
Recent All-Ireland Cup winners UL Bohs, who have been to the forefront of the women’s game for so long, had won six All-Ireland League titles in-a-row between 2002 and 2007 before Blackrock ended that sequence.
While UL Bohs will be hoping to avenge that defeat, they did beat the Stradbrook outfit 20-10 when they met in the league phase in November.
Those successive final victories for the Limerick girls included three wins over Shannon (2002, 2003 and 2004), two defeats of Blackrock (2005 and 2006) and one triumph over Highfield (2007).
There are a host of current Ireland internationals in the Blackrock and UL Bohs teams, so this is a great chance to get out and see the cream of the crop in Irish women’s rugby.
In the curtain raiser, St. Mary’s College are hoping to bring a first ever league title back to Templeville Road when they take on City of Derry, who finished top of All-Ireland Division Two North.
The Derry team, captained by Glenda Fleming, secured their place in the final with a 14-12 win over Munster champions Nenagh Ormond. Mary’s progressed through thanks to a 22-5 defeat of Youghal.