CYM 0
Tallaght 12
Tries: Louise Leonard Flood, Ellen Crotty
Con: Abbie Keeley
Women’s League Division 3
Terenure Sports Park
15/12/2024
Tallaght women took on CYM in Terenure in their final Division 3 league game before the Christmas break.
Tallaght played into a strong wind in the first half but they still got some decent backline moves going. Normally a winger, Niamh Moore was playing at inside centre for the first time, but she took to the new position well. Moore combined sharply with fly-half Nicole Fanning on a couple of loop moves to release runners in the wide channels. One such move almost led to Ellen Crotty scoring in the corner but she was just tackled into touch.
As the first half progressed, CYM started to dominate possession and their powerful ball carriers took the fight to Tallaght. But led by Kim Littlefield and Lorraine McManus, Tallaght’s defence held out and the first half ended scoreless. With the wind behind their backs in the second half, Nicole Fanning and Louise Leonard Flood started kicking superbly to pin CYM in their own half.
This led to a lineout near the CYM line which Abbie Keeley stole. Orlaith Plunkett first carried strongly and then Louise Leonard Flood forced her way over the line to give Tallaght a 5-0 lead. Next Niamh Moore and then Sorcha Burns made great breaks. When the ball was worked out wide Chloe Conroy Kearns floated a perfect pass for Ellen Crotty to take it in her stride and run the ball in from distance to score under the posts. Abbie Keeley kicked the conversion to make it 12-0 to Tallaght with still over 20 minutes to go but there were no more scores from either side. Tallaght probably should have scored a few more tries but they’ll be happy with the win in such tough conditions.
Tallaght head coach Andy Grace was pleased for this team. “It was tough playing into the wind in the first half but we kept our shape and defended well. When we had the wind at our backs in the second half, Nicole and Louise kicked intelligently for territory. Its earned us a couple of chances and we took them well and after that we never looked like losing. We probably left a few chances behind us in the second half to make the margin more comfortable, but overall it was nice to finish out the year with a win.”
“It was a really good team performance and everyone did well. But Niamh Moore is the player of the match as it was her first game at inside centre and she passed, carried and tackled really well. It was really great to see Vanessa Tilbury and Sandra Fashho Musallam make their first appearance for the club. It was also really nice to have a full 21 player squad to work with today. I want to wish all the players, coaches and our supporters a happy Christmas and we’ll look forward to getting back to playing in the new year.”
Player of the game: Niamh Moore
Tallaght RFC
- Samantha Ledden
- Orlaith Plunkett
- Karen Corrigan
- Abbie Keeley
- Arianda Selvila
- Kim Littlefield
- Lisa O’Connell
- Lorraine McManus (Captain)
- Eileen Shanahan
- Nicole Fanning
- Sorcha Bruen
- Niamh Moore
- Chloe Conroy Kearns
- Ellen Crotty
- Roisin Ni Uileagoid
- Shauna Fitzgerald
- Martina Fitzpatrick
- Louise Leonard Flood
- Grainne Leonard Flood
- Vanessa Tilbury
- Sandra Fashho Musallam