Women’s All-Ireland League Round Two
Old Belvedere 31 0 Galwegians,
Anglesea Road
Cooke 28 5 Blackrock,
Shaw’s Bridge
Railway Union 105 0 Tullamore,
Park Avenue
UL Bohemians 32 7 Highfield,
Annacotty
OVER A CENTURY of points for leaders Railway Union and impressive displays from Old Belvedere, reigning champions UL Bohemians and Cooke marked the second weekend of the Women’s All-Ireland League.
The weekend’s action began with Old Belvedere, last season’s beaten finalists, recording a 31-0 bonus point win over Galwegians, who are now coached by Bundee Aki and Karol Collins.
With Ireland international Elise O’Byrne White back at full-back after 18 months out with injury, the home side were in buoyant form from the start.
Excellent lines of running and impressive displays from Alex Whyte and her team-mates powered the home side clear – the fast-breaking Linda Djougang, Clodagh Dunne and Ailbhe Dowling were among the try scorers – and they never looked back.
Galwegians were game opponents, with many newcomers in their ranks, as Edel McMahon, Nicole Fowley and Ciara O’Connor stood out for the westerners.
Rampant Railway Union ran in 17 tries and amassed 105 points against a gallant but overpowered Tullamore outfit at Park Avenue.
This was a spectacular team display from Railway who were on the front foot at all times. League newcomers Tullamore did everything they could to stem the tide but Roisin Feighery, Nichola Fryday, Pauline Keating and their colleagues were fighting a losing battle.
Among the try scorers for the table-topping Dubliners were Emer O’Mahony, Lindsay Peat and Niamh Byrne who all notched three tries apiece, while out-half Nikki Caughey kicked ten conversions as Railway streaked away to a huge winning total.
A powerful performance saw Cooke run in three tries as they got the better of a hard-working Blackrock outfit, winning 28-5 at Shaw’s Bridge.
Tries from captain Beth Cregan and Ilse van Staden gave Alasdair McKee’s side a deserved platform early on but Blackrock hit back with a try from Jeamie Deacon, who had been released from Ireland Sevens training along with Katie Fitzhenry, to leave the scoreboard reading 15-5 at the break.
Cooke, who were comprehensive winners over ‘Belvo last week, dominated the second half as Blackrock’s discipline let them down and a late try from Ulster starlet Brittany Hogan sealed the deal for Cooke, who had full-back Teah Maguire in impressive form all day.
UL Bohemians outscored Munster rivals Highfield by six tries to one as they emerged as 32-7 victors at Annacotty this afternoon.
Bohs were 15-0 clear at the interval but a resurgent Highfield hit back with a converted try from Ireland hooker Leah Lyons early in the second half.
Along with Lyons, Linda McNamara excelled at full-back for the visitors. However, that was the signal for Bohs to go up a gear or two and they pulled away to win handily in the end.
The bonus point winners had two tries from lively centre Syphonia Pua and singles from Fiona Reidy, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, Rosie Newton, who now has three for the campaign so far, and Mairead Kelly.
Performance-wise, Clodagh O’Halloran and Anna Caplice led the way for UL with a high work-rate and consistent impact on the game.
Women’s All-Ireland League Round 3 Fixtures: Saturday, September 30
COOKE (3rd) v UL BOHEMIANS (2nd), Shaw’s Bridge, 5pm
RAILWAY UNION (1st) v OLD BELVEDERE (4th), Park Avenue, 5pm
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