Portlaoise girls cull the Ravens
Portlaoise U/16 girls team which defeated Roscrea Ravens in the second round of the Leinster Rugby Cup
Roscrea Ravens 5
Portlaoise 34
THE Portlaoise U/16 Girls were back on the road again on Saturday to take on Roscrea Ravens in second round of the Leinster Cup. It turned out to be another overcast day with mucky playing conditions which always suits this Portlaoise team.
Molly Jane Dempsey got the game started kicking into the Ravan 22. For the first 10 minutes of it was a real battle. Terrific tackling from both sides, impressive rucking at the break down was a joy to behold and a great advertisement for the underage game.
The Portlaoise props, Orlaith Costigan and Kate Scully carried hard at the heart of the Ravens. Captain Ciara Cuddy was relentless in her efforts and 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 of their forwards and the efficient Emily Harvey was delivering excellent passes out the wing. This time the quick passing led to an overlap and the deadly Ratheniska duo of Mary O’Hara and Molly Fitzpatrick linked up brilliantly for Fitzpatrick to touch down under the posts.
Portlaoise would continue with the their dominance, 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 O’Hara to score her second try of the day.
As the Ravens 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 these and exploit they did. Both led the Ravens on a merry dance through the middle and it was Adams who made the breakthrough to touch down under the posts.
As the half came to a close the Ravens began to find their feet and after a dominate spell they crossed the line a try to leave the half time score at Portlaoise 24 The Ravens 5 As the second half started Molly Kelly was applying the pressure and the game was going into over drive for Portlaoise. Kelly was linking up well Elisha Gilligan who was making huge ground into the Ravens’ 22. Ella Sherlock’s 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 Kehoe burst through the centre and with the try line beckoning only for a brilliantly timed tackle preventing 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 Louise Hyland who was causing all the damage through the middle, this time setting up Emma Scully to cross the 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.
