With just three rounds left UL Bohemian remain as the leaders and could make next month’s final with two games to spare. Railway Union and Old Belvedere make up the three horse race for the final, their showdown in two weeks promises to be an exciting one.
Blackrock College (1T) 5-17 Suttonians (3T), Stradbrook
Suttonians claimed a big scalp on Thursday evening as they defeated Dublin rivals Blackrock in Stradbrook, confirming a new name will be on the Division Trophy this season.
It was all Sutts in the opening half on the scoring front, Leomie Kloppers and Julia O’Connor crossing for tries, while a conversion from Lauren Farrell McCabe ensured the visitors were 12-0 ahead by the interval.
Molly Fitzgerald added a third try in the second half which furthered Suttonians chances in the tie. Rock would get on the board when Ellen Boylan crossed the whitewash for their only score in the contest.
Railway Union (12T) 72-12 (2T), Wicklow, Park Avenue
Last year’s runners up Railway Union increased their chances of making next month’s decider in the Aviva Stadium as they produced a sparkling display against Wicklow notching 12 tries in the win.
Stephen Costello’s charges were dominant and showed their scoring pedigree in abundance. Leading 43-0 in a dominant opening half they kept on the front foot to cruise home in the second.
Maddy Aberg, Faith Oviawe, Alaïs Diebold and Aimee Clarke were on the double notching two tries each, Patricia Doyle, Molly Boyne, Lindsay Peat and Ava Ryder also crossed for the hosts. Nikki Caughey kept up her fruitful performance from the tee with five conversions, while Hazel Simmons also slotted over two points from the tee.
Cooke (1T) 5-67 Old Belvedere (11T), Shaw’s Bridge
As they prepare for a titanic showdown with Railway Union next time out, Old Belvedere will have plenty of confidence as they produced another high scoring bonus point performance to get past Cooke on Saturday.
Just a point remains between them and Railway in second place, they ran in 11 tries against Cooke, leading 36-0 at the interval they remained dominant in a fruitful second half performance as they feel confident of making the final this year.
Éadaoin Murtagh bagged a hat trick from the midfield, while Lesley Ring and Megan Edwards crossed twice. Lisa Callan, Jade Gaffney, Jenny Murphy and Kate Ballance also added tries for the Dubliners. Jemma Farrell slotted six conversions for the visitors.
UL Bohemian (7T) 41-7 Ballincollig (1T), UL Arena
UL Bohemian continued their unbeaten run in the Women’s Division as they overcame Munster rivals Ballincollig on a wet night in UL. The Treaty Women notched seven tries in a strong performance on home soil.
Ballincollig certainly gave Bohs a test in the opening half, Laurileigh Baker went over for a score for the visitors converted by Kelly Griffin, however UL with tries from Aoife Corey, Brianna Heylmann, Kate Flannery and Claire Bennett moved ahead 22-7 at the break, Flannery accurate with a conversion.
Fiona Hayes’s charges continued their fruitful nature in the second half, Ciara O’Dwyer and an Aoibheann Hahessy brace sending them on course for a 14th successive win of the campaign. Flannery notched a further conversion while Rachel Allen also slotted a conversion between the posts on a testing evening.
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.