Kilkenny 21
Tallaght Women 3
Penalty: Grainne Leonard Flood
Women’s League Division 3
Foulkstown
25/10/2024
The Tallaght women’s team travelled to Foulkstown to take on Kilkenny RFC under Friday night lights.
Tallaght started well and had Kikenny under pressure in the own half. The pressure led to a penalty which Grainne Leonard Flood kicked to give Tallaght a deserved 3-0 lead. Kilkenny were making too high tackles and eventually the referee showed them a yellow card for repeated infringements.
However Tallaght wasted possession and the Kilkenny outside centre Eve Cronin gathered the ball in their twenty two. She took off on a run down the line and reached the Tallaght twenty two. Ellen Crotty showed great pace to chase her down but stopped her with a high tackle. The referee awarded a penalty try to Kilkenny and showed Crotty a yellow card. Two minutes later the Cronin broke clear again and this time no one was stopping her. The try was converted to make it 14-3 to Kilkenny
Though it didn’t always look entirely legal, Kilkenny’s scrum started to dominate. Two scrum penalties led to a period of pressure and though Tallaght initially survived the onslaught, they were pushed off their own ball in the scrum and Eve Cronin scored again, this time from close range. The try was converted to make it 21-3 at halftime.
Tallaght settled down in the second half and were able to defend against Kilkenny better. They had one great chance to score a try early in the half but they lacked composure close to the line and the chance was lost. Both team cancelled each other out as the half went on. There was no more scores, with the game finishing 21-3 to Kilkenny, their first win of the season.
Tallaght head coach Andy Grace saw positives in the second half performance. “We actually started the game really well and probably should have been further ahead. But they hit us with a double whammy of breakaway tries and that really knocked our confidence. At 21-3 down at halftime, the heads could have dropped but I’m proud of how everyone fought for each other and prevented Kilkenny scoring in the second half. It was great to see Arianda Selvila start today in only her second game of rugby ever and put in a great effort. She was close to player of the match but that went to Chloe Conroy Kearns who was excellent with the ball in hand and also kicked very well.”
Player of the match: Chloe Conroy Kearns
Tallaght RFC
- Karen Corrigan
- Orlaith Plunkett
- Lorraine McManus
- Martina Fitzpatrick
- Arianda Selvila
- Kim Littlefield
- Lisa O’Connell
- Samantha Ledden
- Grainne Leonard Flood
- Nicole Fanning
- Abbie Keeley
- Chloe Conroy Kearns
- Eileen Shanahan
- Ellen Crotty
- Sorcha Burns
- Lisa Kennedy
- Layana Mukkadekat
- Niamh Moore
- Jensen Byrne