Tullamore R.F.C. 19

Tallaght R.F.C. 7

Tries: Caoimhe Hogan
Conversions: Caoimhe Hogan

Women’s League Division 4A
Spollanstown
03/12/2017

The Tallaght women’s team travelled to Spollanstown to take on second placed Tullamore in Division 4A of the women’s league. Tullamore started well and had Tallaght under immediate pressure. But Tallaght’s defence was strong with Roisin Doyle and Aisling Pyke putting in some strong hits. Tullamore broke through the line and looked certain to score a try but Caroline Lamba saved the day with an excellent cover tackle.

Eventually the pressure told and Tullamore went over for a try to lead 5-0. Tallaght hit back strongly with Doyle, Anne Bermingham and Lorraine Cleary making strong ball carries which put Tullamore under so much pressure that they kept conceding penalties. The referee lost patience and gave Tullamore a yellow card. Tallaght carried strongly again through Pyke and Lisa Kennedy and then skipper Caoimhe Hogan forced her way over for his first try for Tallaght. She celebrated by converting her own try to give Tallaght a 7-5 lead at half-time.

Tullamore started strongly in the second half and their kicking game got them into good territory. Then in a crucial moment, captain Caoimhe Hogan was shown a yellow card somewhat harshly for not retreating when asked to by the referee. Without their skipper, Tallaght were lacking organisation and Tullamore ruthlessly took advantage scoring two converted tries in three minutes to go 19-7 up. When Tallaght returned to their full numbers, they dominated the rest of the game. But the Tullamore defence was very well drilled and their first up tackling kept Tallaght from breaking through. Tallaght’s cause wasn’t helped either when they lost the influential Audrey Fulham to a neck injury.

Martina Fitzpatrick looked to a scored a try for Tallaght but the referee gave a penalty against them instead. Jacinta Purcell and Megan Fogarty went close too but though they spent the last moments of the game hammering away on the Tullamore line, Tallaght just couldn’t get the score that would have given them a losing bonus point, which was the least they deserved for their brave effort.

Coach Adam Nolan was disappointed to lose for the first time this season but was proud of his team’s efforts. “Everyone on the team played their hearts out. We lost a little bit of concentration in the second half for a while and they hit us with two quick tries. But we never gave up and we had them under massive pressure at the end there. That’s the best team we’ve played this season, but we’ll learn a lot from this game about the areas we need to improve so we can beat teams like them. It’s all about making the top two in our conference to make the play-offs and then anything can happen.”

Woman of the match: Roisin Doyle

Tallaght

15. Megan Fogarty
14. Jacinta Purcell
13. Cíara McLoughlin
12. Caroline Lamba
11. Rachel Nolan
10. Aisling Pyke
9. Caoimhe Hogan (Captain)

1. Lisa Kennedy
2. Aileen McGovern
3. Anne Bermingham
4. Roisin Doyle
5. Audrey Fulham
6. Lorraine Cleary

Replacements:

16. Martina Fitzpatrick
17. AnnMarie Riverc

Report: Jim O’Connor
Photos: Lynn Staunton