As we enter the final round before the division takes a pause for two months, UL Bohemian are nine games unbeaten after a walkover win, while the meeting of Old Belvedere and Blackrock College is eye catching to say the least.
Galwegians v Cooke, Crowley Park, Saturday December 9th, 3pm
A resurgent Galwegians look to continue their winning ways this weekend as Cooke travel to Crowley Park.
Wegians suffered six defeats in a row to begin the campaign but have turned it around in the last two rounds, taking back to back wins to start rebuilding confidence within their ranks. While both results have been decided by a seven point margin, it is points on board. With plenty more rounds left where can they finish if they can find their form we know they have once again.
Cooke again are certainly struggling in this campaign and the search continues to end their losing streak. It looked like they had done enough to defeat Wicklow but lost by three in the finish, outside of that result they have lost four of their last five games by a margin of 40 points or more, could we see them pull it out of the fire this weekend to end the year on a high.
Old Belvedere v Blackrock College, Saturday December 9th, Ollie Campbell Park, 5pm
Approaching the Winter break, the top four battle will again make for interesting viewing as third meets fourth this weekend.
Belvedere fell shy of ending UL Bohs run last weekend and as a result their unbeaten run of six games came to an end. The result that came before that run of wins was a first day defeat to Blackrock in Stradbrook. A few months later they look even stronger. A host of Internationals are back to stack their resources for this heavyweight clash, they will be hungry to win this one.
For the second time this season Blackrock tasted defeat as Railway Union came out winners last weekend, despite controlling a lot of the half they trailed at the break and could not match the intensity of their hosts. Méabh Deely, Christy Haney and Dorothy Wall all are welcomed returns for Blackrock, while Aoife Wafer has been an incredible try scoring asset in recent weeks.
Railway Union v Suttonians, Saturday December 9th, Park Avenue, 5pm
Railway will look to nail down second spot until the division resumes in the second weekend of February.
Railway did hit a rough patch losing to Belvo and UL but performed well in their last two to sit second albeit by a point. Still last year’s runners up have been electric in recent years and still pose a big threat and look to end the year on a high. This time 12 months ago they were getting ready to charge for the division title but changes this year see us return to a full state of games. A strong squad also for Stephen Costello to pick from, Lindsay Peat grabbing a hat trick last week shows just why she remains an integral part of this group.
With a 50% win rate this year, Suttonians make a short trip to face Railway in this all Dublin affair. History favours Railway, winning all four games, 30 plus point margins have been the difference this year, while last year and the year prior the margins were 73 and 59 respectively. Suttonians will want to make a game of it but have lost to all of the top four this year including Railway in fairly one sided displays. Still we cannot write them off, they have strong players capable of taking scores, Leomie Kloppers grabbed a hat trick last week and is the joint third highest try scorer in the division, while Lauren Farrell McCabe is also a big influence.
UL Bohemian 28-0 Wicklow, Saturday December 9th, Annacotty, 5pm
UL Bohs will remain top heading into the season break as they were awarded a 28-0 win over Wicklow as the visitors conceded the fixture. Injuries led to the visitors not being able to field a team. Wicklow have been deducted five points as a result.
More Info on the Women’s Division here.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.