Women’s Rugby 

Leinster League Division 2 

Naas 33 Clondalkin 7 

Match Report: David McKeown

Photos: Michael Linehan

Naas Women kept their promotion hopes alive with an emphatic win in this Leinster Division 2 clash. A young Naas pack battled with a powerful, experienced set of Clondalkin forwards , but it was in the backline that Naas showed their quality with a hat-trick for winger Cliodhna O’Connor and two tries for centre Emily Mckeown. 18-year-old Amy McGuire put in another fine kicking performance with 4 conversions from 5 attempts. Clondalkin did not cross the Naas line, with only a penalty try to show for a very valiant effort. 

O’Connor got on the scoreboard after 3 minutes after some good handling across the backline, but Clondalkin hit back very quickly with a penalty try from a scrum This set the pattern for the game with Clondalkin dominating the set -piece, but the Dublin women were not able to exploit their forward dominance. 

The Clondalkin women were slow to reorganize after the penalty try, and Naas took a quick restart. Fast ruck ball from Emma Tully and Ellen Murray allowed Mckeown to burst through for her first try, converted by the ever-reliable McGuire. 

After a disruption to the game caused by a serious-looking injury to a Clondalkin player, the Naas pack again recycled fast ball with Sheena Hubbard and Lauren Bergin leading the way to give Mckeown the space for another impressive team try.  

Despite struggling in the scrum, the youthful Naas forwards kept the tempo high as Clondalkin started to tire. After the break, strong running from Abbie Cleary, Jane Fallon and Aoibheann O’Sullivan caused significant problems in the Clondalkin defence, leading to a series of penalties for Naas. Scrum half Ciara Mckeown took a fast tap, and the Naas backline were able to get the ball into the hands of O’Connor, who raced in for her second of the day. 

With 65 minutes on the clock, Aoibheann O’Sullivan won a fine turnover against the wilting Clondalkin pack, and the Naas backs executed a textbook 2 v 1 to put O’Connor away for the final try of the game. McGuire added a long-range conversion to make the final score 33 7 to Naas. 

Naas now have a break before their critical game v New Ross on the 28th of January. 

Naas 

Emma Tully, Ellen Murray, Aoibheann Hasset O’Sullivan, Lauren Bergin, Alix Doyle, Asta Rowe, Jane Fallon, Sheena Hubbard, Ciara Mckeown, Any McGuire, Zoe Dunbar (c), Emily Mckeown, Jamie Garland, Cliodhna O’Connor, Shauna Kinsella, Natasha Moroney, Ali Miley, Rachel Naughton, Aoife Furlong, Caitriona Sheridan, Malgorzata Korpas, Abbie Cleary