Having had their round six meeting fall due to the inclement weather conditions, Wicklow and Railway Union renew their acquaintances this weekend. 

A contrast in terms of standings position but the similarity has both coming off the back of a loss heading into this fixture. For Railway it very much is a must win, having suffered consecutive setbacks, the runners up from last term are eight adrift of second place and 12 points plus score difference behind the leaders. 

Wicklow have had a difficult start to the season but in recent weeks certainly showed signs of improvement but fell to a fifth defeat last weekend. Squandering a 5-0 lead at the break as Ciara O’Leary crossed for a try. Galwegians hit back with two tries in the second period as Wicklow were unable to turn the tide.

It looked like they turned it around with a strong showing against Cooke inspired by Saoirse O’Reilly bagging a hat trick ending a four game winless run, however last weekend’s result does see them dustinging off another defeat ahead of this clash.

What’s worse for Wicklow knowing they want points to get up the standings is that in their short history in the Women’s Division they have never defeated Railway. On their last trip to Ashtown Lane just over 12 months ago, Wicklow were defeated 22-5. Despite that defeat it was a much improved performance than their 142-0 defeat in that inaugural campaign in 2021.

Their third and most recent meeting game in the Energia Cup series earlier this year resulted in a 39-15 defeat. Top scorer O’Reilly will look to add to her 20 point tally for the season coming off four tries, while Beth Roberts can prove an important component with her kicking game. Alannah Dixon, Eimear Douglas, Jessica Griffey, Erin McConnell and Naoise O’Reilly have all added tries, showing Wicklow do possess threat in all areas of the field.

Railway are in unfamiliar ground heading for what is a short trip in comparison to other outings this season, having lost their last two fixtures. A narrow 6-3 defeat to Old Belvedere was followed by a 10-7 defeat by UL Bohemian last weekend, games where the lead was with Railway at the break only to be on the losing side by the end of proceedings.

The visitors are missing a host of names, Molly Scuffil-McCabe is between Irish set-up but has moved to New Zealand so no longer with the club, Chloe Blackmore has stepped away this year, while Carmen Rodera is another that has left the county returning to her native Spain. Aoife McDermott is a massive loss for the Dubliners in their forward line, she has left for Australia this year. 

Niamh Byrne who has captained Railway to numerous accolades, was a welcome return during the second half in Annacotty last weekend, a strong impact off the bench UL had that little but more as the elements proved another degree of difficulty to the fixture. Nikki Caughey was dangerous in that fixture with her kicking game as Railway certainly shaded the opening half on possession alone, pinning UL back in their own half.

Railway exploiting the stiff wind to their backs were dangerous, using their powerful forward line to keep UL back, unable to fully leave their own half for large periods of play. Grainne O’Loughlin did go off with an arm injury and was replaced by Patrica Doyle in that fixture, she will be a doubt coming into this tie. 

As mentioned Caughey was a danger and not only has the Railway out-half struck 43 points this campaign but possesses a wand of a right boot that can gain Railway those extra yards to put teams under strain from their deadly lineout game. Last week’s game and the week prior to Belvedere was compact and very forward heavy, the Railway backs including Aimee Clarke, Rhiann Heery, Maddy Aberg, Kayla Waldron and Ava Ryder had very little room in the channels to cross for scores but given a gap they can certainly cause Wicklow problems.