UL Bohs continue to set the pace at the midway point of the season winning their eight straight contest. Railway Union moved to second spot as the top four was shaken up this weekend.
Ballincollig (2T) 14-21 Galwegians (3T), Tanner Park
Galwegians made it back to back wins in the Women’s Division after they came through in the second half against a valiant Ballincollig side.
Deadlocked at the break 7-7, the Tribeswomen showcased their strengths in the second half to take a valuable four points. Grace Browne Moran crossed twice in the contest with Orla Dixon adding the other. Emma Keane also made a vital contribution from the kicking tee, converting all three tries.
Another loss for Ballincollig, despite the best efforts of Gemma Lane and Michelle O’Driscoll to grab tries and conversion from Anna Roche and Sinead O’Reilly, the Cork side fell short in the end and made it five defeats in a row.
Old Belvedere (2T) v UL Bohemian (3T), Ollie Campbell Park
Second half tries from Chisom Ugwueru and Aoibhe O’Flynn helped UL Bohs remain unbeaten in the Women’s Division with a close fought result in Ollie Campbell Park.
Belvo drew first blood after eight minutes with Minnona Nunstedt finishing off a team move for the opening try that went unconverted. The Red Robins replied after 15 minutes with Brianna Heylmann getting over and Kate Flannery struck the conversion for a 7-0 lead. It lasted until shy of the half hour mark, Clodagh Dunne crossing and Dannah O’Brien converting. Flannery punished Belvo from a pena;ty shy of the break, the lead remained with the hosts at the interval 12-10.
Mere minutes into the second period Ugwueru showed her athletic background and power to gather O’Brien’s restart midway between her 22 and 10 m line, race towards the Belvo line evading four tacklers in the process and touch down to give UL the lead. Minutes later the Robins had a tap go penalty shy of the Belvo line, their forwards showed their way close to the line, with advantage occurring Flannery kicked for the corner and Aoibhe O’Flynn gathered and dotted down for the third try. O’Brien cut the gap to five with a penalty minutes later and for the remaining minutes, UL were solid to remain unbreached.
Railway Union (6T) 38-22 Blackrock College (3T), Park Avenue
Railway avenged their defeat in last year’s final to Blackrock with a strong performance in Park Avenue moving them second in the table.
Blackrock started strong with Méabh Deely adding an early penalty before Clíodhna O’Sullivan and Aoife Wafer added tries converted by Ella Durkan. Despite leading 17-12 by that stage, Railway would take a narrow 19-12 lead into the interval.
Wafer would add a second try in the second period, Railway just showed their dominance. The veteran Lindsay Peat crossed for a hat trick, while Leah Tarpey continued to impress, bagging two tries in the result. Maddy Aberg also got in on the try scoring, with Nikki Caughey again sharp from the tee making four conversions. A statement win by Stephen Costello’s charges.
Suttonians (7T) v Wicklow RFC (2T), JJ McDowell Memorial Grounds
Seven of the best from Suttonians picked up the points in Sutton on Saturday evening, a strong result over Wicklow.
It was Wicklow who started the better, Caoimhe Molloy crossed early and Saoirse O’Reilly added the conversion, minutes later O’Reilly burst from her own half and dotted down for a 12-0. Suttonians hit back and would lead 19-12 by the interval.
Leomie Kloppers led by example with three tries in the contest, while Grainne Tummon, Nicola Bolger, Lauren Farrell McCabe and Meabh O’Brien all crossed for Suttons in the win. Farrell McCabe also was sharp from the kicking tee, dissecting the posts on five of the seven occasions with conversion attempts.
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.