Win for St Senan’s ladies

St Senan’s 27   St Mary’s 0

Following a pitch inspection after some very heavy rain over the previous 24 hours, the referee declared the pitch at Jimmy Slattery Park in good enough condition for the ladies’ match between St Senan’s and St Mary’s to go ahead.

St Senan’s started the strongest of the two teams and held territorial advantage inside St Mary’s 22’ for the first 10 minutes of the match. This pressure was rewarded when Senan’s were awarded a scrum close to St Mary’s try line. Lisa Webb took the ball from the back of the scrum and found Rachel McGann in open space, allowing her to run in their first try. Rachael O’Brien was unable to find the target with her conversion attempt due to the severe weather conditions but Senan’s were happy to have opened up an early 5-0 lead.

With no improvement in the weather conditions, both sides found it difficult to control the ball in hand. St Mary’s rallied and pushed Senan’s hard but the home side’s defence held strong. Neither side managed to add any further scores in the half so Senan’s held their 5-0 lead at the break.

The second half started in the same vein as the first, with Senan’s pressurising the Mary’s defence. A penalty for the home side resulted in a quick tap and go by Rachael O’Brien, who offloaded the ball to Caitlin Long for her to drive over the try line to add another score for Senan’s.

St Mary’s struggled with the strength of Senan’s attack and conceded another try when Lisa Webb once again took the ball from the back of the scrum, finding Claire O’Brien in space and allowing her to touch down their third try under the posts. Rachael O’Brien made no mistake with the conversion kick and Senan’s held an impressive 17-0 lead.

The next 10 minutes resulted in some great play from both St Senan’s backs and forwards, with some good breaks coming from Gillian Grimes, Regina Fennessy and Louise Dunne.

St Senan’s fourth try came following a period of sustained pressure and some good, direct running play from both backs and forwards. This resulted in Margaret Long forcing her way through from 22 metres out to touch down. The conversion attempt drifted just wide of the posts, leaving Senan’s with a 22-0 lead.

Senan’s sealed the game with more good interactive play between backs and forwards, allowing Rachel McGann to run in Senan’s fifth try out wide. The conversion again drifted wide of the posts but Senan’s had secured their first league win with an impressive performance in poor weather conditions.

Next weekend, St Senan’s travel to Cork to take on Cobh Pirates.

St Senan’s: Margaret Long, Linda McInerney, Caitlin Long, Louise Dunne, Mary McCarthy, Lisa Fitzgerald, Amie O’Donoghue, Lisa Webb, Gill Grimes, Rachael O’Brien, Áine NicCormaic, Claire O’Brien, Regina Fennessy, Rachel McGann, Clare Hester.
Replacements: Ursula McInerney, Leslie Cosgrave, Donna Marie Maguire O’Neill, Caroline Canavan, Emma Horan and Ciara Fitzgerald.

St Mary’s 30   St Senan’s 9

St Senan’s may have had reason to celebrate their ladies big win but when the junior men from the same clubs clashed in a Division 1 league tie on Sunday, the Limerick side emerged as comfortable winners.
They were 8-3 in front at half-time on a day when Peter Noone converted three penalties for the Clare outfit.