Tallaght Women 14
Tries: Aisling Pyke 2
Conversions: Sorcha Burns, Grainne Leonard Flood

Longford 5

Women’s League Division 3
Tymon Park
20/10/2024

The Tallaght women’s team took on Longford in Division 3.

Tallaght opted to play into the strong wind in the first half as Storm Ashely made her way around the country. But they suffered an early blow when they lost number eight Louise Leonard Flood to a nasty leg gash that required a trip to the Hospital.

With the wind at their backs, Longford dominated possession and were camped in the Tallaght half. Tallaght defended well but even when they won the ball back, they couldn’t kick the ball far to relieve the pressure. Eventually, the pressure told and Longford scored a try to take a 5-0 lead.

Towards the end of the first half Tallaght got some possession in Longford’s half finally off a fine turnover from Sam Ledden. There was some strong carries from Lorraine McManus and Orlaith Plunkett. But they couldn’t turn this into scoring opportunities and the half finished 5-0 to Longford.

In the second half Tallaght won a penalty in their own half. With the wind at her back Aisling Pyke kicked the ball deep into the Longford half. Ellen Crotty chased up superbly to make a fine tackle and trap Longford in their own twenty two. Tallaght turned the ball over and the ball was worked out to Pyke, who broke a tackle to score a try under the posts. Sorcha Burns converted to give Tallaght a 7-5 lead.

Longford tried to hit back but were faced with the same problems Tallaght had in the first half, playing into the strong wind. Longford put together several phases but Tallaght tackled well and showed the patience to wait for the chance to poach the ball. Tallaght nearly scored another try after nice inter-play between Chloe Conroy and Nicole Fanning, Niamh Moore almost put Eileen Shanahan away for a great try, but the last pass was knocked on.

But Tallaght kept the pressure on and Aisling Pyke took a smart line off a ruck to take Grainne Leonard Flood’s pop pass to break away for her second try of the game. Leonard Flood converted and though Longford kept trying, there were no more scores as Tallaght won 14-5.

Tallaght head coach Andy Grace was proud of his team. “The first half was tough, having to defend for basically 40 minutes into the wind. But the tackling and discipline were excellent and everyone showed up for each other. In the second half, we used the wind smartly and got in position to use our attacking skills and get the scores we needed. There was a lot of players who could have gotten this, but Orlaith Plunkett is player of the match today. She just showed up everywhere making carries and big hits. We’re on the road to Kilkenny this Friday, so we’ve only a short break before the next game. But we had a great win in Kilkenny last season and a great night out afterwards, so we’re looking forward to trying to do the same again.”

Player of the match: Orlaith Plunkett

Tallaght RFC

1. Karen Corrigan
2. Orlaith Plunkett
3. Lorraine McManus
4. Martina Fitzpatrick
5. Samantha Ledden
6. Kim Littlefield
7. Lisa O’Connell
8. Louise Leonard Flood
9. Grainne Leonard Flood
10. Nicole Fanning
11. Niamh Moore
12. Roisin Ni Uileagoid
13. Eileen Shanahan
14. Ellen Crotty
15. Sorcha Burns
16. Lisa Kennedy
17. Arianda Selvila
18. Aisling Pyke
19. Chloe Conroy
20. Clodagh Cullagh
    Photos: Mark Luttrell