Wolfhounds Bag Second Successive Bonus Point Win In Scotland

CELTIC CHALLENGE – ROUND 3:

Saturday, January 13 –

GLASGOW WARRIORS 12 WOLFHOUNDS 40, Scotstoun Stadium
Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Phaedra Snailham, Louise McMillan; Con: Lucy MacRae
Wolfhounds: Tries: Sarah Delaney, Linda Djougang, Sophie Barrett, Katie Whelan, Katie Corrigan, Brittany Hogan; Cons: Dannah O’Brien 2, Nikki Caughey 3
HT: Glasgow Warriors 5 Wolfhounds 21

Captained this time by Molly Boyne, Neill Alcorn’s side scored three tries in each half to follow up on last week’s maximum haul in Edinburgh and move to the top of the table.

This was Glasgow’s first ever home fixture at Scotstoun Stadium but they trailed 21-5 at half-time, having leaked converted tries to the Wolfhounds’ front row trio of Delaney, Linda Djougang and Barrett.

Their third straight victory of the competition did come at a cost, with both Dannah O’Brien and Djougang forced off through injury, but the Leinster-Ulster selection tagged on second half scores from Katie Whelan, Corrigan, on her debut, and Brittany Hogan.

Phaedra Snailham marked her Glasgow debut with a try and experienced Scotland international Louise McMillan also crossed. The Wolfhounds are back in action against Wales’ Brython Thunder at Kingspan Stadium in a fortnight’s time.

In a bright opening to the contest, Ceitidh Ainsworth broke towards the visitors’ 22 as Glasgow applied the early pressure, before 19-year-old prop Barrett’s barnstorming run, via a Niamh Marley offload, almost saw her open the scoring at the other end.

The Wolfhounds held onto the territory, with Hogan and Hannah O’Connor making good metres. Leah Tarpey was held up under the posts, and Glasgow drew further encouragement from Lucy Winter’s well-won turnover penalty.

However, the deadlock was broken by Delaney in the 13th minute as the hooker, who only turned 19 last month, connected with Keelin Brady at a close-in lineout and a tidy maul delivered the opening try, converted crisply from the right by O’Brien.

With Tarpey showing her jackal skills at breakdown, the Wolfhounds’ short passing and angles of attack kept the Warriors guessing. Full-back Ella Durkan impressed under the high ball, regularly running back kicks at pace.

The pressure told again in the 19th minute when Brady dummied to go through a gap, linking with Éadaoin Murtagh who carried within a couple of metres of the line. O’Connor was tackled short before Djougang barged over to the left of the posts.

The try scorer had to go off shortly afterwards, having picked up a shoulder knock, and Glasgow, with an improving lineout, had some promising phases with out-half Ainsworth once more showing her ability to carve through the defence.

Ulster duo Hogan and Brady briefly broke up the Scottish side’s momentum with some muscular steals, but an overcooked kick from O’Brien gave Glasgow the platform, and a few minutes later, winger Snailham picked from a ruck to squeeze over in the left corner.

That concession came on the back of the Wolfhounds losing O’Brien who had to hobble off following a heavy challenge. Aoife Dalton increased her influence late in the first half, carrying strongly in attack and picking up an important turnover in her own 22.

Alcorn’s charges made sure they went into the break with another seven-pointer under their belts. Penalties put them within range and Brady’s tip-on pass released Barrett to power over from 15 metres out, taking two defenders with her. Replacement Nikki Caughey converted.

The bonus point was pocketed just two minutes after the restart. Scrum half Whelan capitalised on some space around the side of a ruck, breaking speedily from just outside Glasgow’s 10-metre line before shrugging off Carla McDonald’s attempted tackle to go in under the posts.

Glasgow hit back in the 48th minute, their hard-working flanker McMillan, with 48 Scotland caps to her name, showing very good strength to drive through two tackles and score. Lucy MacRae converted for a 28-12 scoreline.

Busy skipper Boyne was held up as the Wolfhounds chased a quick response, and they did get over soon after. Boyne and Delaney made good ground back into the opposition 22, and the newly-introduced Jade Gaffney, Caughey and Durkan combined to put Corrigan over out wide.

A scrappy final quarter followed with the Wolfhounds mostly on the front foot. A dink over the top from Caughey had the Warriors under pressure near their own line, before replacement Izzy Hannay popped up with a timely turnover a few phases later.

Nonetheless, Carla McDonald was caught standing behind the end line when receiving a pass, handing hard-earned possession back to the Wolfhounds who clinically took advantage.

Number 8 Hogan used the resulting five-metre scrum to bowl Ainsworth over, her powerful 72nd-minute finish swiftly added to by Caughey’s extras from the tee.

The visitors’ bench was emptied with the aforementioned Gaffney, Claire Boles, Christy Haney, Kelly McCormill, and Ava Ryder all making their Wolfhounds debuts. Ulster centre McCormill went close to scoring a late try but was crowded out by the covering Glasgow defenders.

The Scottish outfit saw out the match with 14 players as Snailham saw yellow for infringing after a fine break from O’Connor, who burst onto a Boyne pass, had taken the Wolfhounds close to the whitewash once again.

TIME LINE: 13 minutes – Wolfhounds try: Sarah Delaney – 0-5; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 0-7; 19 mins – Wolfhounds try: Linda Djougang – 0-12; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 0-14; 30 mins – Glasgow Warriors try: Phaedra Snailham – 5-14; conversion: missed by Lucy MacRae – 5-14; 40 mins – Wolfhounds try: Sophie Barrett – 5-19; conversion: Nikki Caughey – 5-21; Half-time – Glasgow Warriors 5 Wolfhounds 21; 43 mins – Wolfhounds try: Katie Whelan – 5-26; conversion: Nikki Caughey – 5-28; 48 mins – Glasgow Warriors try: Louise McMillan – 10-28; conversion: Lucy MacRae – 12-28; 52 mins – Wolfhounds try: Katie Corrigan – 12-33; conversion: missed by Nikki Caughey – 12-33; 72 mins – Wolfhounds try: Brittany Hogan – 12-38; conversion: Nikki Caughey – 12-40; 75 mins – Glasgow Warriors yellow card: Phaedra Snailham; Full-time – Glasgow Warriors 12 Wolfhounds 40

GLASGOW WARRIORS: Carla McDonald; Sky Phimister, Claudia McLaren, Lucy MacRae, Phaedra Snailham; Ceitidh Ainsworth, Mairi McDonald; Ailie Tucker, Nikki Simpson, Eilidh Fleming, Emma Turner (co-capt), Ellie Williamson, Louise McMillan, Lucy Winter, Alex Love.

Replacements used: Sophie Anderson for Turner, Izzy Hannay for Love (half-time), Chloe Brown for Tucker (50 mins), Holland Bogan for Winter, Giselle Chicot for McLaren (both 54), Rhea Clarke (co-capt) for M McDonald (62), Karis Craig for Simpson, Kaylee Fraser for Fleming (both 64).

WOLFHOUNDS: Ella Durkan (Blackrock College RFC/Ulster); Katie Corrigan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Leah Tarpey (Railway Union RFC/Leinster), Niamh Marley (Dungannon RFC/Cooke RFC/Ulster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster); Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Sarah Delaney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Sophie Barrett (Enniskillen RFC/Railway Union RFC/Ulster), Keelin Brady (Railway Union RFC/Ulster), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Éadaoin Murtagh (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Molly Boyne (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) (capt), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster).

Replacements used: Aoife Moore (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Djougang (22 mins), Nikki Caughey (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) for O’Brien (29), Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC/Ulster) for Brady, Jade Gaffney (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for Whelan (both 50), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Barrett (56), Maebh Clenaghan (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) for Delaney, Kelly McCormill (Cooke RFC/Ulster) for Tarpey, Ava Ryder (Railway Union RFC/Connacht) for Corrigan (all 65).

Referee: Sam O’Neil (SRU)