09/12/2018 Leinster Women’s Division 4 Longford 12 Portlaoise 5
by Nuala McGoey Women’s Head Coach
Longford played Portlaoise for their last match of 2018 hoping to keep their winning streak going. Portlaoise kicked off and Longford went on the attack straight away. With some good inter play between forwards and backs they worked their way up the field. Laura Gallagher made a break and with Rachael O’Farrell running a great support line they had Portlaoise on the back foot. Louise Hillary, Hannah Shea, Fidelma, Michelle and Nicola Farrell all took ball on to help drive Irene Murtagh over the line for a well worked team try. Emma Dardis converted to give Longford a 7 to 0 lead. Portlaoise were not going to let Longford run away with this game and came right back at the home team. Longford started to give away a few silly penalties and found themselves camped defending on their own line, Portlaoise worked a good move off a penalty and went over for a try which went unconverted to leave the score 7 to 5. Longford again went on the attack and put in some clever kicks which resulted in a Portlaoise 22 drop out. The away side tried to take a quick short one but Megan Jobe got a boot to the loose ball and won the foot race to dive on the ball over the try line for a great try, the conversion was missed. The rest of the first half was played with both teams playing really well and not giving an inch. Half time Longford 12 Portlaoise 5
Longford kicked off the second half and the game turned into a great battle between two teams who wanted to finish the year with a win. Longford’s lineouts were working well which was giving the backline space and time to work the ball out wide. Portlaoise had a stubborn defence, which Longford struggled to break down. The away team made some great breaks and were pounding the Longford try line but Longford’s defence was just as stubborn with some great tackles going in and the home side managed to clear their line. Some indiscipline from the away side put Longford on the attack again but they just couldn’t find a way across the Portlaoise try line. The final score was 12 to 5.
Longford: Irene Murtagh, Fidelma Fallon, Louise Hillary, Michelle Farrell, Nicola Farrell, Natalie Reilly, Rebecca Duffy Hannah Shea, Emma Dardis, Laura Gallagher, Rachael O Farrell, Maria Kelleher, Clare Clabby, Megan Jobe, Rebecca O’ Hara, Dora Ledwith, Anita Walker & Shauna Cahill.
This was a solid performance for this young Longford side who are growing in confidence and was a great way to finish off the year with 3 wins in a row. They now take a well earned break over Christmas.
The Warriors train every Tuesday and Friday night at 7.30 PM. New players of all fitness levels are welcome, even if they have not played before. Contact Nuala on 082482005.
Upcoming Fixtures:
Sunday January 13th Leinster League Greystones (Away).
Sunday January 20th Leinster League Naas (Home).
Sunday Januarys 27th Leinster League Portlaoise (Away)
All Kick Offs are at 1 PM.
Longford Women celebrating after their last match of 2018
