PWC UNDER-18 GIRLS INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 1:
Saturday, August 8 -
ULSTER U-18 GIRLS 5 CONNACHT U-18 GIRLS 67, Gibson Park, Malone RFC
Scorers: Ulster: Try: Alanna Scullion
Connacht: Tries: Elsie Yewlett 2, Kitty Sweeney, Isabella Garvey, Rhea Sestak, Ruth Conway, Leah McNamara, Sally Fleming, Cairínn Kearns, Anna Cooley, Niamh Gannon; Cons: Sally Fleming 6
HT: Ulster 5 Connacht 31
Claire Coghlan's first match in charge of the Connacht Under-18s Girls ended in a resounding victory at Malone RFC, with impressive out-half Sally Fleming scoring 17 points.
Alanna Scullion had Ulster level early on, but Connacht swept into a 31-5 half-time lead thanks to tries from Elsie Yewlett, captain Kitty Sweeney, Isabella Garvey, Rhea Sestak, and Ruth Conway.
Sligo winger Yewlett completed her brace after the break, while Leah McNamara, Fleming, Cairínn Kearns, replacement Anna Cooley, and Niamh Gannon also crossed the whitewash.
Dan Carson's Ulster side are on the road to defending champions Munster next Saturday, with the game kicking off at 12pm at Virgin Media Park. Energia Park is the venue for the meeting of Leinster and Connacht (kick-off 2pm).
There were some encouraging early signs for Ulster as Yoanna Natovska showed her jackaling ability to win a penalty, before Ballymena winger Anna Murray made an eye-catching 50-metre break.
Connacht had to defend at the edge of their 22, but gradually gained ground thanks to a Sestak turnover, and a fine run from Claremorris Colts' Millie Ager.
Following up on the hooker's break, inrushing full-back McNamara got the ball away quickly for winger Yewlett to finish off in the right corner. Fleming missed the difficult conversion.
Ulster managed to reply in the 11th minute. Malone's own Rachel Kelly kicked well from a penalty to set up a six-metre lineout, and a well-controlled drive landed Scullion over the whitewash.
However, Connacht skipper Sweeney, one of their returning players from last year, regained the lead for her side in the 15th minute. Her nicely-angled sniping run gave Fleming her first points from the tee.
The westerners were warming to their task now, and continued to have the better of the breakdown. An attacking surge down the right resulted in number 8 Garvey making it 17-5 from a pick-and-go.
Ballinasloe's Esther Albert then displayed her pace and athleticism on a terrific solo charge, albeit that Ulster's counter-rucking led to Isabella Taylor stealing possession back.
When Connacht came hunting again, Cooke's Maisie Bowden had a timely lineout steal, but from the next set-piece, Garvey offloaded for Sestak to storm her way over, with Fleming converting.
On the half-hour mark, Albert and Gannon did some damage down the left for the visitors, before Westport centre Conway picked from a ruck for a clever converted score, to the right of the posts.
Despite Ulster winning three turnovers inside the opening minutes of the second half, they fell further behind when McNamara used a Gannon pass to score on the left.
It all came from a scrum which Connacht won against the head, and the increasingly-influential Fleming topped it off with her third successive conversion for a 38-5 scoreline.
Coghlan's charges were now in full flow, and their crisp passing skills - following some more pressure on the Ulster scrum - paved the way for Yewlett to double her tally out wide.
Barely five minutes later, Garvey used turnover ball to carry strongly up into the Ulster 22, and her inviting offload sent Fleming sidestepping past Cora Hayes and in under the posts for try number eight.
Carson's youngsters never let their heads drop, and Bowden came up with another lineout steal. In addition, try scorer Scullion pounced on a loose ball for a subsequent turnover.
Nonetheless, there was some excellent interplay in the build-up to Connacht's next try, particularly between centres Conway and Albert. Tighthead Kearns burrowed over to get on the scoresheet.
Fleming converted from out on the right, with the aid of the crossbar. Busy flanker Sestak was still full of running, and so too was Ulster captain Katelynn Magee whose pacy break took play back towards halfway.
With four minutes remaining, the Connacht backs used scrum possession to set up speedy replacement Cooley who showed a clean pair of heels to the cover to make it 62-5.
A barnstorming run from Aoibhinn Lyons, straight through the middle, deserved a try, but it was Gannon who got over in the dying seconds, at the end of some precise passing.
TIME LINE: 7 minutes - Connacht try: Elsie Yewlett - 0-5; conversion: missed by Sally Fleming - 0-5; 11 mins - Ulster try: Alanna Scullion - 5-5; conversion: missed by Cora Hayes - 5-5; 15 mins - Connacht try: Kitty Sweeney - 5-10; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-12; 21 mins - Connacht try: Isabella Garvey - 5-17; conversion: missed by Sally Fleming - 5-17; 27 mins - Connacht try: Rhea Sestak - 5-22; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-24; 31 mins - Connacht try: Ruth Conway - 5-29; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-31; Half-time - Ulster 5 Connacht 31; 40 mins - Connacht try: Leah McNamara - 5-36; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-38; 44 mins - Connacht try: Elsie Yewlett - 5-43; conversion: missed by Sally Fleming - 5-43; 50 mins - Connacht try: Sally Fleming - 5-48; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-50; 54 mins - Connacht try: Cairínn Kearns - 5-55; conversion: Sally Fleming - 5-57; 66 mins - Connacht try: Anna Cooley - 5-62; conversion: missed by Chloe O'Connor - 5-62; 70 mins - Connacht try: Niamh Gannon - 5-67; conversion: missed by Chloe O'Connor - 5-67; Full-time - Ulster 5 Connacht 67
ULSTER U-18 GIRLS: Cora Hayes (Cooke RFC); Katelynn Magee (Banbridge RFC) (capt), Emily Irwin (Omagh RFC), Olivia Kyle (Omagh RFC), Anna Murray (Ballymena RFC); Rachel Kelly (Malone RFC), Rachel Douglas (Banbridge RFC); Alanna Scullion (Cooke RFC), Yoanna Natovska (Ballymoney RFC), Holly Stockman (Ballynahinch RFC), Rachel Easdon (Ballymena RFC), Maisie Bowden (Cooke RFC), Isabella Taylor (Ballymena RFC), Elsie Brown (Clogher Valley RFC), Charlotte Boyd (Clogher Valley RFC).
Replacements: Grace Fitzpatrick (Banbridge RFC), Erin Playfair (Donaghadee RFC), Isabella Copeland (Banbridge RFC), Erin McCay (Cooke RFC), Olivia Beggs (Carrickfergus RFC), Ava Fegan (Omagh RFC), Joy Lemon (Donaghadee RFC), Charlotte Thompson (Ballymoney RFC).
CONNACHT U-18 GIRLS: Leah McNamara (Westport RFC); Elsie Yewlett (Sligo Rugby), Esther Albert (Ballinasloe RFC), Ruth Conway (Westport RFC), Niamh Gannon (Tuam RFC/Oughterard RFC); Sally Fleming (Buccaneers RFC), Kitty Sweeney (Westport RFC) (capt); Róise Ní Scanláin (Tuam RFC/Oughterard RFC), Millie Ager (Claremorris Colts RFC), Cairínn Kearns (Gort RFC/Monivea RFC), Anna Murphy (Castlebar RFC), Aoibhinn Lyons (Westport RFC), Orla Palasz (Westport RFC), Rhea Sestak (Loughrea RFC), Isabella Garvey (Sligo Rugby).
Replacements: Losalia Atonio (Tuam RFC/Ougherard RFC), Amy Moran (Loughrea RFC), Kate Madden (Creggs RFC), Cora Heneghan (Buccaneers RFC), Poppy Tunney Ware (Westport RFC), Rose Fleming (Buccaneers RFC), Chloe O'Connor (Buccaneers RFC), Anna Cooley (Gort RFC/Monivea RFC).
Referee: Emma Murphy (IRFU)
