Portlaoise 34 Roscrea Ravens 5
Leinster U-16 Girls Rugby Cup Round 2
The Portlaoise U-16 girls were back on the road again Saturday to take on The Ravens in Roscrea for Round 2 of the Leinster Cup.
This was another overcast day with mucky playing conditions which always suits this Portlaoise team.
Molly Jane Dempsey got the game started kicking into the Ravens’ 22. For the first 10 minutes of this game, it was a real battle.
Terrific tackling form both sides, impressive rucking at the break down was a joy to behold and a great advertisement for the underage game.
The Portlaoise pair of props, Orlaith Costigan and Kate Scully, carried hard at the heart of the Ravens.
Captain Ciara Cuddy relentless in her efforts, all this work created space out on the wing, quick ball through the hands freed up Mary O’Hara to race clear along the side line to touch down for her first try of the day.
Louise Hyland was having the game of her life with powerful runs requiring a lot of attention from the Ravens defence, this again was leaving acres of space out the wing.
The Portlaoise backs were taking full advantage of the hard work their forwards were doing for them and the efficient Emily Harvey was delivering excellent passes out the wing.
This time the quick passing through the hands led to an overlap and the deadly Ratheniska duo of Mary O’Hara and Molly Fitzpatrick linked up brilliantly for Molly Fitzpatrick to touch down under the posts.
Portlaoise would continue with the their dominance with Abbie Delany exceptional in all aspects of her game. Tara Peavoy and Chloe Kavanagh’s work rate was immense on the day aided brilliantly by Faye Scully.
All this was freeing up huge space on the wings again. Lily Brophy quickly capitalised on this by releasing Mary O’Hara to score her second try of the day.
As the Ravans began to shore up the holes they were leaving on the wings, it meant gaps began to appear in the middle.
Saffron Adams and Aoibheann Conroy needed no invitation to exploit and exploit they did. As both led the Ravens on a merry dance through the middle, it was Saffron Adams who made the break through to touch down under the posts.
As the half came to a close it was the Ravens who began to find their feet and after a dominate spell they crossed the line a try of their own to leave it 24-5.
As the second half started, Molly Kelly was applying the pressure and the game looked like it was going into over dive for Portlaoise.
Molly Kelly was linking up well Elisha Gilligan who was making huge ground into the Ravans’ 22. An Ella Sherlock perfectly timed pass allowed Saffron Adams to evade the Ravens defence to cross the white line for her second try of the game.
Portlaoise continued their relentless attack on the Ravens and a great interchange of play with Blaithnead Kehoe and Sarah Keane saw the former burst through the centre but with the try line beckoning, a brilliantly timed tackle prevented the score.
As Portlaoise welcomed back Daisy Whitten from injury, she continued where she left off with a brilliant display aided by Kate Hosey.
With Melena Rodriguez Viau now pulling the strings at 10, Portlaoise were in a dominant phase of the game.
Abbie Fitzpatrick and Grainne Ramsbottom were causing all sorts of problems down the wings.
As Lily Brophy was making ground it was again the Louise Hyland who was causing all the damage through the middle, this time setting up Emma Scully to cross the white line for a great team try. Unfortunately, the referee spotted a ‘knock-on’ and awarded the Ravens a scrum.
As the Ravens cleared their lines the ball landed in the hands of Amarachi Obi and with the pace of a gazelle she raced through scoring Portlaoise’s final try of the day and with that came the final whistle.
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