Ladies rugby - Division Three Final preview 

Longford Ladies travelled to Tuam to play a friendly on Sunday last as preparation for their Division three Leinster League final against Barnhall on Saturday, April 24th in Old Belvedere Rugby Club.

Tuam won the Development League in Connaught so a good test for Longford.

Longford opened the scoring with Kelly Stechschulte running in a good individual try. Imelda Maguire went one better with two tries the second a fine individual run from a set move to touch down.

Karen Lennon and Paula Magan finished off the scoring with a try a piece with fly half Sharon McKeown converting two of the tries with Tuam scoring one and converting for a final score of 29-7.

The match was certainly not as easy as the score suggests with Longford conceding a lot of silly penalties. There's still work to be done to prepare for the final.

Having started training back in August the Longford Ladies have had a long season welcoming new players Helen Conefry, Bernice Martin, Kelly Stechschulte, Natasha Pennamon, Sinead Buchan, Orla Brady, with some of those getting into the first team.

Having been in the final last season, their goal is to go one better and bring home the cup on Saturday next.

Since they started three and a half years ago the Longford Ladies have reached three Leinster finals winning the Development League in their first season no mean feat, playing against much bigger clubs and more established teams.

This season they played in the Paul Flood cup putting up a great display against St Mary's a Division one side going down 7-0, beating Malahide from Division two and beating Barnhall in the round robin stage.

This qualified Longford to play in the AIL Cup where they drew Clonmel in the first round, which they conceded, so their round two opponents were Old Belvedere who were top of Division two. Longford Ladies played some of their best rugby that day and gave a good account of themselves losing 10-8, having two tries disallowed.

Their only league defeat this season was to their final opponents Barnhall, which they lost 5-0. Their coaches David Lulham,Ciaran Smith,Gordon Smith and technical director George McDermott, have been really impressed with their progress this year and their commitment to training.