Boylan’s Brace Out West Ensures Blackrock Stay On Winning Trail

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE WOMEN’S DIVISION:

Saturday, December 6 –

GALWEGIANS 5 BLACKROCK COLLEGE 29, Crowley Park
Scorers: Galwegians: Try: Emily Foley
Blackrock College: Tries: Maggie Boylan 2, Andi Murphy, Sarah Moody, Cara Martin; Cons: Abby Moyles 2
HT: Galwegians 5 Blackrock College 17

Sarah Moody, Blackrock’s Young Player of the Year for 2024/25, scored for the second week running, adding to earlier tries from Boylan and Andi Murphy, to leave Galwegians trailing 17-5 at half-time.

Emily Foley’s opportunist 35th-minute score had got the former table toppers off the mark, but a strong third quarter from Niall Neville’s charges produced further tries for influential centre Cara Martin and Boylan.

Having consigned Galwegians to their third straight defeat, Blackrock remain second in the Women’s Division, just four points off the summit. They travel to Belfast to face Cooke next Saturday afternoon, while ‘Wegians, who have fallen to fourth, are on the road to Railway Union.

In their final home game of the calendar year, Galwegians’ defence was tested early on. Méabh Deely had a try ruled out for a forward pass from Abby Moyles, while co-captain Ellen Connolly fought hard to wrestle a ‘Rock lineout back on ‘Wegians’ side.

Teenager Síofra Hession’s right boot gained good territory for the hosts, but it was the Dubliners who struck first in the 10th minute. Boylan finished crisply from Martin’s pass over the top, and the handling skills of Moyles and Sam Brackett before that.

Following Moyles’ successful conversion, the Blue Belles had a decent spell of continuity in and around Blackrock’s 22. A persistent rain shower added to the difficulty, and ‘Rock won a scrum penalty to move play back past the halfway line.

From a subsequent scrum, the Blackrock attack was called back for crossing. Their back-three continued to threaten, though, and winger Murphy made it over in the right corner for a 12-0 lead in the 24th minute. Ava Fannin and Maeve Óg O’Leary had carried well in the build-up.

It got even better for Neville’s side barely four minutes later. Captain Hannah O’Connor’s inviting pass put Moody through a gap, and the young flanker had the pace to finish off from 30 metres out, despite Sinéad O’Brien’s last-ditch challenge.

Nonetheless, Galwegians got the boost they needed with a try approaching the break. Dolores Hughes used a loose offload from Ella Durkan to kick the ball through twice, and full-back Foley nipped in ahead of the retreating Moyles for a classic poacher’s finish.

Early on the resumption, Blackrock built for their bonus point score which Moyles converted. They got their maul moving before Durkan stepped off her left, beating the first tackle and zooming up into the hosts’ 22 before timing her pass perfectly for her centre partner Martin to go over.

Galwegians should have hit back just minutes later. Stacy Hanley’s neat dummy and carry opened the space up for her to link with Kila Curran Coleman, who was a pass away from putting replacement Saoirse Lawley over. Instead, Murphy intercepted to rescue the situation for ‘Rock.

Durkan was becoming more prominent as a ball carrier, making a good deal of post-contact metres. Blackrock’s attack clicked again in the 56th minute, a sweeping move on the left ending with Boylan completing her brace following strong runs from O’Leary and second row Nikki Gibson.

Galwegians defended stoutly as ‘Rock hunted for another try on the hour mark, with the tireless Hannah Coen leading the tackle count, and replacements Rebecca Farrell and Rebecca Blake combining to hold up Munster captain O’Leary.

A combination of out-half Hession’s big boot, and a scrum penalty which replacement Aisling Whyte took quickly, saw ‘Wegians build some phases back in ‘Rock territory. Hession’s cross-field kick found Lawley out wide, but unfortunately she could not connect with the supporting Foley.

Knock-ons and forward passes made for a scrappy final quarter overall, but ‘Wegians did find space out wide once more. Lawley accelerated away from Murphy and Martin, launching a kick chase before Moyles covered the danger, and replacement Jill O’Toole’s clearance kick found touch.

When Hession missed touch from a penalty, Deely drove the ball downfield to ensure Blackrock ended the contest inside the opposition half. Handling errors in the tricky conditions meant neither try-line was threatened late on, as ‘Rock saw out their seventh victory in a row.

TIME LINE: 10 minutes – Blackrock College try: Maggie Boylan – 0-5; conversion: Abby Moyles – 0-7; 24 mins – Blackrock College try: Andi Murphy – 0-12; conversion: missed by Abby Moyles – 0-12; 28 mins – Blackrock College try: Sarah Moody – 0-17; conversion: missed by Abby Moyles – 0-17; 35 mins – Galwegians try: Emily Foley – 5-17; conversion: missed by Síofra Hession – 5-17; Half-time – Galwegians 5 Blackrock College 17; 49 mins – Blackrock College try: Cara Martin – 5-22; conversion: Abby Moyles – 5-24; 56 mins – Blackrock College try: Maggie Boylan – 5-29; conversion: missed by Abby Moyles – 5-29; Full-time – Galwegians 5 Blackrock College 29

GALWEGIANS: Emily Foley; Kila Curran Coleman, Sophie Cullen, Dolores Hughes, Sinéad O’Brien; Síofra Hession, Gráinne Moran (co-capt); Ella Burns, Stacy Hanley, Ellen Connolly (co-capt), Orla Fenton, Dearbhla Canty, Hannah Coen, Mollie Starr, Grace Browne Moran.

Replacements: Laura Scuffil, Eve Tarpey, Rebecca Blake, Beibhinn Gleeson, Aisling Whyte, Rebecca Farrell, Saoirse Lawley.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: Méabh Deely; Andi Murphy, Cara Martin, Ella Durkan, Maggie Boylan; Abby Moyles, Lauren Farrell McCabe; Ava Fannin, Sam Brackett, Megan Brodie, Nikki Gibson, Hannah O’Connor (capt), Sarah Moody, Carrie O’Keeffe, Maeve Óg O’Leary.

Replacements: Ann-Marie Rooney, Aoife Moore, Molly Fitzpatrick, Ciara Scanlan, Catherine Martin, Giselle O’Donoghue, Jill O’Toole.

Referee: Siobhán Daly (IRFU)