Energia Women’s All-Ireland League: Round 4 Review
Railway Union and UL Bohemian continue to set the pace in the Energia Women’s All-Ireland League after four rounds of games. Both sides have recorded bonus point wins in each game to date, with Railway’s coming in difficult conditions against a redoubtable Blackrock College side this evening.
“I’m really proud of the girls for getting that,” said Railway Union captain Niamh Byrne of their 33-0 win. “’Rock brought the physicality to Park Avenue tonight and I think our girls stepped up and made some big hits and performed well.”
You can see some of the action in the below video.
“It’s going well. We’ve changed up what we’re doing,” Byrne continued. “We have added to our shape a bit and we’re trying to play a bit of a faster game, which is working well.
“I think our team is gelling together really well. We’ve obviously had our internationals and our interprovincials in and out and it’s worked seamlessly. We’ve had people step up to the plate who’ve played seconds or come in from different clubs.”
Old Belvedere kept ahead of Cooke in the playoff spots with a 41-7 win over Malone. Alison Miller maintained her scoring form with two of the home side’s seven tries.
Suttonians will take the positives from their first trip to Limerick in the Energia Women’s All-Ireland League despite a 32-22 defeat at the hands of UL Bohemian.
The visitors even opened the scoring through the boot of fly-half Nicole Carroll after 10 minutes, although their lead was short lived with Fiona Reidy crossing just two minutes later.
Suttonians rallied brilliantly to level the game at 15-15 after 28 minutes with tries from Sophie Gibney and Ciara Farrell. Bohs still had time to secure the bonus point before half time. Sara Quin got the fourth and Chloe Pearse got the try her standout performance deserved to make it 27-15 at the break.
Reidy made it a hat trick of tries for her late on but Suttonians were determined to get something out of the game. Roisin O’Driscoll’s last minute secured their highest score of the season to date.
UL Bohemian Head Coach Fiona Hayes was quick to credit Suttonians for their performance:
“We didn’t know a lot about Suttonians so it was new for everyone,” she said. “They’re a very young creative side. They’ve a lot to offer the league so it’s good to have games like that.
“Our girls played well in patches, but we’ve two weeks of hard work ahead of us as we look to kick on for the next block of games.”
Saturday November 9th 2019
OLD BELVEDERE 41 MALONE 7, Ollie Campbell Park
Scorers: Old Belvedere: Tries; Grace Miller, Elise O’Byrne White, Fiona Tuite, Claire Mc Laughlin, Alison Miller 2, Vanessa Hullon; Con: Jemma Jackson 3
Malone: Tries: Ella Durkan; Con: Alexa Grudgings
HT: Old Belvedere 31 Malone 0
Old Belvedere: Fiona Tuite, Vanessa Hullon, Alison Miller, Elise O’Byrne White, Grace Miller, Jemma Jackson, Aoife Byrne, Christina Furlong, Melissa Hayden, Rose Alice Murphy, Clodagh Dunne, Jan Carroll, Alannah Rogers, Franziska Klappoth, Claire McLaughlin. Replacements: Aoife Lally, Cara Donovan, Alex Barczuk, Niamh O’Flynn, Emma Lackey, Jennifer Murphy, Anna Bolger.
Malone: Holly Brannigan, Ella Durkan, Olivia Andrews, Fern Wilson, Jill Stephens, Alexa Grudgings, Jenna Stewart, Neve Jones, Ashleigh Currie, Sarah Murphy, Rebecca Lawlor, Chloe McIlwaine, Eimear Hagan, Shirelle Wilson, Lauren Maginnes. Replacements: Anna Stanfield, Brogain Ni Chiarrain, Grace Davitt, Megan Bell, Louise McConville, Jasmine Ward, Shauneen Fitzpatrick.
RAILWAY UNION 33 BLACKROCK COLLEGE 0, Park Avenue
Scorers: Railway Union: Tries: Cliodhna O’Connor, Aoife Moore, Ailsa Hughes, Emer O’Mahony, Niamh Byrne; Cons: Molly ScuffilMcCabe 2, Christine Coffey 2
HT: Railway Union 5 Blackrock College 0
Railway Union: Aoife O’Shaughnessy, Stephanie Carroll, Aoife Doyle, Niamh Byrne, Cliodhna O’Connor, Molly Scuffil McCabe, Ailsa Hughes, Aoife Moore, Lisa Callan, Claire Coombes, Ciara Cooney, Meaghan Kenny, Molly Boyne, Deirdre Roberts, Daisy Earle. Replacements: Anna O’Neill, Sonia McDermott, Keelin Brady, Grainne O’Loughlin, Christine Coffey, Emer O’Mahony, Hazel Simmons.
Blackrock College: Aisling Brosnan, Roisin Crowe, Ciara Scanlan, Lisa Mullen, Rosie Newton, Valerie Power, Mona Fehily, Christina Haney, Emma Hooban, AnnMarie Rooney, Mairead Holohan, Anna Potterton, Riana Roche, Orla Molloy, Alison Coleman Replacements: Margaret Kelly, Rebecca Yue, Jenni Burke, Aoife Browne, Laura Delaney, Natasja Behan, Maeve Og O’Leary.
UL BOHEMIAN 32 SUTTONIANS 22, UL
Scorers: UL Bohemian: Tries: Fiona Reidy 3, Rachel Allen, Sarah Quin, Chloe Pearse; Con: Nicole Fitzgerald
Suttonians: Tries: Sophie Gibney, Ciara Farrell, Roisin O’Driscoll; Pen: Nicole Carroll; Con: Nicole Carroll 2;
HT UL Bohemian 27 Suttonians 15
UL Bohemian: Aoife Corey, Erin Coll, Stephanie Nunan, Rachel Allen, Sorcha Ni Uallachain, Nicole Fitzgerald, Helen McDermott, Chloe Pearse, Kate Sheehan, Fiona Reidy, Claire Bennett, Ciara O’Halloran, Clodagh O’Halloran, Lily Brady, Sarah Quin, Replacements: Aoife O’Sullivan, Abigail Richardson, Rebecca O’Shea, Niamh O’Neill, Emma Doolan.
Suttonians: Sophie Gibney, Meabh O’Brien, 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 O’Sullivan. Replacements: Carrie O’Keeffe, Ciara O’Brien, Katie Reel, Aislinn Layde, Louise Catinot, Jenny Bowler, Jayleigh Brophy.
COOKE W/O GALWEGIANS*
*Cooke have been awarded 5 points. Galwegians have been deducted 2 points.