Big Home Win Keeps UL Bohs On Course

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE WOMEN’S DIVISION:

Saturday, December 6 –

UL BOHEMIAN 102 TULLOW 7, UL 4G pitch
Scorers: UL Bohemian: Tries: Aoife Corey 2, Abbie Salter-Townshend, Lily Brady 2, Sinead Hogg 2, Aoibhe O’Flynn 2, Ciara McLoughlin 2, Éabha Nic Dhonnacha 2, Ciara O’Dwyer, Jane Clohessy, Clara Barrett; Cons: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha 7, Rachel Allen, Clara Barrett 3
Tullow: Try: Chloe Farrell; Con: Chloe Farrell
HT: UL Bohemian 64 Tullow 7

Backed by a strong wind, UL Bohs whipped up a storm of their own in the first half to lead 64-7. Their 10-try haul included doubles from Aoife Corey, Sinead Hogg, on her first league start, and Aoibhe O’Flynn.

Tullow had briefly made it a seven-point game thanks to Chloe Farrell’s opportunist eighth-minute effort, but Sarah Quin’s charges soon pulled away, with Connacht captain Éabha Nic Dhonnacha top-scoring with 24 points.

Nic Dhonnacha pulled the strings at out-half, in the absence of Kate Flannery and Caitríona Finn, and skipper Chloe Pearse and prop Gráinne Burke also stood out, both for their handling skills and link play in attack.

On her seasonal debut for the Red Robins, Clara Barrett scored a try and kicked three conversions. Front rowers Lily Brady and Ciara McLoughlin both touched down twice in the end, as the reigning champions made it eight victories out of eight, bagging their seventh bonus point in the process.

Full-back Corey marked her return from Ireland Sevens duty with a third-minute opener, a brilliant weaving run from just outside Tullow’s 22. UL Bohs controlled the early possession in blustery conditions, also stealing a lineout through O’Flynn.

A free-flowing move through the middle led to scrum half Abbie Salter-Townshend sniping over for their second converted score. Tullow needed to gain a foothold and drew inspiration from Farrell’s excellent solo try.

Farrell had the pace to score from over 40 metres out, ripping the ball back in a tackle before staying clear of the chasing Salter-Townshend and Barrett. Her conversion closed the gap to 14-7, but Bohs had their bonus point by the quarter hour mark.

Tullow thought they had snuffed out a dangerous UL attack, only for Brady to rush in and get the grounding under the posts. Burke’s eye-catching break straight from the restart played in Hogg to score from the right wing.

Second row O’Flynn stretched the lead to 31-7 by powering over from close range, set up by number 8 Pearse’s well-timed inside pass. Alex O’Brien was landing some big tackles in midfield for Tullow, yet the hosts’ dominance continued.

Loosehead Burke supplied her second assist, offloading neatly for fellow prop McLoughlin to cross to the right of the posts. The Tullow pack laid down a marker by winning a relieving scrum penalty, only for Bohs to win possession back at the next lineout.

Ireland Under-20 international Nic Dhonnacha stayed on her feet through contact, breaking free to add her name to the list of try scorers. Centres Barrett and Rachel Allen then did the damage before Brady released Hogg out wide to complete her brace.

That left it 50-7 and the league leaders added two more seven-pointers before the interval. Hogg collected an Allen kick on the bounce to lead Bohs back into scoring range in the 29th minute, with Burke providing the final pass to put Corey in under the posts.

After Allen was denied a try by a forward pass, O’Brien and Destiny Moses led a breakout from Tullow’s 22. However, UL soon struck for try number ten, as O’Flynn took advantage of a couple of missed tackles to go over just to the left of the posts.

As the elements were in their favour for the second half, the Carlow side’s share of territory increased. With captain Grace Kelly to the fore, they forced another scrum penalty with a big shove.

Nonetheless, Bohs replacement Jane Clohessy soon broke the defensive line and sent the supporting Nic Dhonnacha away for her second try of the game. Farrell responded with a fine 50:22 kick to get Tullow on the front foot again.

UL continued to keep the visitors at bay, with tighthead McLoughlin winning a penalty at the breakdown. Nic Dhonnacha was almost clear for a hat-trick score, but Leanne Savage and Farrell combined to thwart her, the latter relieving the pressure with a very good exit kick.

Despite winger Lisa O’Toole speeding down the right touchline on the hour mark, Bohs halted Tullow’s progress again with Clohessy’s breakdown work being rewarded.

Clohessy went close to scoring before Ciara O’Dwyer got in on the act in the 63rd minute, making it 76-7. Brady then doubled her tally with a determined drive for a line. Barrett converted and also added the extras to her own try and one from Clohessy.

Clohessy’s try was a terrific individual one, as the Ireland international broke from deep off a restart, brushing off a tackle and using a clever dummy as her speed and strength allowed her to finish past the covering Farrell.

McLoughlin tagged on her second try of the match late on, pushing Bohs past the 100-point mark for the first time in a year. They wrap up the first half of the season with a trip to Ballincollig next week, while Tullow host Wicklow in a Leinster derby.

TIME LINE: 3 minutes – UL Bohemian try: Aoife Corey – 5-0; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 7-0; 5 mins – UL Bohemian try: Abbie Salter-Townshend – 12-0; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 14-0; 8 mins – Tullow try: Chloe Farrell – 14-5; conversion: Chloe Farrell – 14-7; 11 mins – UL Bohemian try: Lily Brady – 19-7; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 21-7; 13 mins – UL Bohemian try: Sinead Hogg – 26-7; conversion: missed by Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 26-7; 16 mins – UL Bohemian try: Aoibhe O’Flynn – 31-7; conversion: missed by Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 31-7; 20 mins – UL Bohemian try: Ciara McLoughlin – 36-7; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 38-7; 25 mins – UL Bohemian try: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 43-7; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 45-7; 27 mins – UL Bohemian try: Sinead Hogg – 50-7; conversion: missed by Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 50-7; 29 mins – UL Bohemian try: Aoife Cofey – 55-7; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 57-7; 37 mins – UL Bohemian try: Aoibhe O’Flynn – 62-7; conversion: Rachel Allen – 64-7; Half-time – UL Bohemian 64 Tullow 7; 49 mins – UL Bohemian try: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 69-7; conversion: missed by Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 69-7; 63 mins – UL Bohemian try: Ciara O’Dwyer – 74-7; conversion: Éabha Nic Dhonnacha – 76-7; 69 mins – UL Bohemian try: Lily Brady – 81-7; conversion: Clara Barrett – 83-7; 71 mins – UL Bohemian try: Jane Clohessy – 88-7; conversion: Clara Barrett – 90-7; 74 mins – UL Bohemian try: Clara Barrett – 95-7; conversion: Clara Barrett – 97-7; 78 mins – UL Bohemian try: Ciara McLoughlin – 102-7; conversion: missed by Clara Barrett – 102-7; Full-time – UL Bohemian 102 Tullow 7

UL BOHEMIAN: Aoife Corey; Sinead Hogg, Clara Barrett, Rachel Allen, Becca O’Shea; Éabha Nic Dhonnacha, Abbie Salter-Townshend; Gráinne Burke, Emma Dunican, Ciara McLoughlin, Aoibhe O’Flynn, Claire Bennett, Lily Brady, Clodagh O’Halloran, Chloe Pearse (capt).

Replacements: Ciara O’Dwyer, Sarah O’Gorman, Caoimhe O’Neill, Jane Clohessy, Anaïs Jubin, Nicole Cronin.

TULLOW: Leanne Savage; Lisa O’Toole, Destiny Moses, Alex O’Brien, Siobhán Kennedy; Chloe Farrell, Lana Brennan; Joanna Mahon, Grace Kelly (capt), Jess Nolan, Angela Viciano, Courtney Kelly, Orla Hanlon, Leah Browne, Katie Ann O’Neill.

Replacements: Diana Kabi, Aoife Byrne, Sara Rennick, Emma Byrne.

Referee: Sean Boland (IRFU)