Tallaght 41
Tries: Louise Leonard 2, Eileen Shanahan 3, Sorcha Burns, Nikita Murray
Conversions: Grainne Flood 3
Gorey 0
Women’s Leinster Division 4
Tymon Park
26/11/2023
The Tallaght women’s team looked to get back to winning ways at home to Gorey in Division 4.
Tallaght didn’t take long to get going. Strong carries from Aisling Pyke and Orlaith Plunkett put Tallaght in a great position and Louise Leonard scored in the corner to put the home team 5-0 up. The second try was one of the best of the season. Skipper Eileen Shanahan made a break down the line from just inside her own half. She offloaded to Martina Fitzpatrick who ran a great support line before offloading to Samantha Ledden. Ledden duly offloaded to Nicole Fanning who put Shanahan in for the try from the move she started herself. Grainne Flood converted to make it 12-0.
The next try originated from a smart Grainne Flood kick ahead which she and Niamh Moore chased up and forced Gorey to concede a scrum five metres out. From the scrum Louise Leonard broke a couple of tackles to get over the line for her second try of the match. Tallaght continued to press and Abbie Keeley went close to scoring a try but the ball was knocked out of her hands while trying to touch it down. It was only a temporary reprieve for Gorey though. From the next play, the ball was worked out to the wing where Sorcha Burns showed great strength to finish off the try to make the half-time score 24-0.
In the second half the rain began to fall making handling difficult. But it didn’t slow down Eileen Shanahan who scored two tries to complete an excellent hat-trick. Nikita Murray scored the last try of the game and Grainne Flood converted to make the final score 41-0.
Head coach Hayley Whyte was happy with her side’s performance. ”It was a very calm, measured performance. We didn’t rush things and backed ourselves and the scores came. I was especially happy with our defence and our discipline. The win keeps us in a good position in the league and we’ve got one more game away to Tullamore before the Christmas break. Big thanks to the massive crowd who came out to support us today.”
Player of the match: Eileen Shanahan
Tallaght RFC
- Karen Corrigan
- Orlaith Plunkett
- Martina Fitzpatrick
- Samantha Ledden
- Abbie Keeley
- Kim Littlefield
- Lisa O’Connell
- Louise Leonard
- Eileen Shanahan (Captain)
- Grainne Flood
- Sorcha Burns
- Nicole Fanning
- Aisling Pyke
- Niamh Moore
- Jensen Byrne
- Shauna Fitzgerald
- Emma Irvin
- Lorraine McManus
- Nikita Murray
- Chloe Conroy
- Roisin Ni Uileagoid
Photos Mark Luttrell/Alex Sadiku
