Women’s rugby
Leinster League Division 1
Naas 17 Balbriggan 31
Match Report: David McKeown
Photos: Michael Linehan
Leinster League Division 1
Naas 17 Balbriggan 31
Match Report: David McKeown
Photos: Michael Linehan
Visitors Balbriggan survived a second-half fight back to take all the points on offer in
this high-quality game at Forenaughts on Sunday. The North Dublin’s side
dominance in the forwards proved critical, as well as the strong wind which made
conditions difficult.
Balbriggan started strongly and went 7 nil up after two minutes, as the young Naas
pack lost a scrum against the head, leading to an easy run-in for the Balbriggan
winger. After the re-start, another lost scrum led to a penalty against Naas, which the
Balbriggan 10 capitalised on with an excellent break deep into the home side’s 22.
Simple passing across the back line led to another break for the Balbriggan winger,
but good Naas defence forced a knock on.
The wind made it almost impossible for Naas to get out of their 22, and they knocked
on while trying to run out of defence. After some more resolute defence, the pressure
was too much, and the visitors scored another good team try.
Naas slowly fought their way back in with a penalty and fast tap from hooker Ellen
Murray. Balbriggan managed to turn the ball over leading to a long break by the
Balbriggan 10. Player of the match Shauna Kinsella made an incredible try-saving
tackle, but good support from Balbriggan led to an inevitable try on the wing for the
visitors. The score now stood at 19 nil to the visitors after 30 minutes.
Soon after the restart Katie Halpin made another strong drive into the heart of the
Balbriggan defence, but again lack of support led to a penalty for holding on. Naas
were forced to defend once more, which they did with great determination, until the
Balbriggan 10 was forced into a cross-field kick on the Naas 22. This was collected
by Naas winger Aoife Furlong, who raced from inside her own half to score, leaving
Naas 7 19 down at half time.
Balbriggan soon discovered how difficult the wind was as they were pinned into their
own 22 for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Eventually Naas won a penalty on
the Balbriggan 22, which Amy Maguire, the most reliable kicker in the league,
converted to leave Naas trailing by 10 points to 19 with 55 minutes on the clock.
Balbriggan then hit back with the best try of the day, with forwards and backs
combining to exploit the space on the wing. The wind made the conversion
extremely difficult, so the score stood at 10 points to 24 with 60 minutes gone.
The home side then gave the lively crowd something to cheer about, as centre
Sheena Hubbard charged down a desperate clearance kick in the Balbriggan 22,
and then managed to touch down to bring Naas into bonus point territory.
With the score now at 17 24, Balbriggan once more managed to beat Naas for pace
on the wing with the last score of the game, followed by an excellent conversion in
the wind. Final score 17 31.
Naas women can take great heart from an admirable performance against a very
good Balbriggan team. Next up for the Kildare women is a visit to Wicklow on
Sunday 27 th .
Naas
15 Zoe Dunbar
14 Shauna Kinsella
13 Laura Power
12 Sheena Hubbard
11 Aoife Furlong
10 Amy McGuire
9 Orlaith Graham
1 Rachel Clarke
2 Ellen Murray
3 Emma Tully
4 Bev Mahon (C)
5 Katie Halpin
6 Cleo Hubbard
7 Asta Rowe
8 Jane Fallon
16 Sorcha Nolan
17 Steph Gleeson
18 Alix Benn
19 Amy Moran
20 Ais Mahon
21 Ciara McKeown
22 Jamie Garland
