Women’s rugby
Leinster League Division 1
Naas 17 Balbriggan 31

Match Report: David McKeown 
Photos: Michael Linehan 

Visitors Balbriggan survived a second-half fight back to take all the points on offer in

this high-quality game at Forenaughts on Sunday. The North Dublin’s side

dominance in the forwards proved critical, as well as the strong wind which made

conditions difficult.

Balbriggan started strongly and went 7 nil up after two minutes, as the young Naas

pack lost a scrum against the head, leading to an easy run-in for the Balbriggan

winger. After the re-start, another lost scrum led to a penalty against Naas, which the

Balbriggan 10 capitalised on with an excellent break deep into the home side’s 22.

Simple passing across the back line led to another break for the Balbriggan winger,

but good Naas defence forced a knock on.

The wind made it almost impossible for Naas to get out of their 22, and they knocked

on while trying to run out of defence. After some more resolute defence, the pressure

was too much, and the visitors scored another good team try.

Naas slowly fought their way back in with a penalty and fast tap from hooker Ellen

Murray. Balbriggan managed to turn the ball over leading to a long break by the

Balbriggan 10. Player of the match Shauna Kinsella made an incredible try-saving

tackle, but good support from Balbriggan led to an inevitable try on the wing for the

visitors. The score now stood at 19 nil to the visitors after 30 minutes.

Soon after the restart Katie Halpin made another strong drive into the heart of the

Balbriggan defence, but again lack of support led to a penalty for holding on. Naas

were forced to defend once more, which they did with great determination, until the

Balbriggan 10 was forced into a cross-field kick on the Naas 22. This was collected

by Naas winger Aoife Furlong, who raced from inside her own half to score, leaving

Naas 7 19 down at half time.

Balbriggan soon discovered how difficult the wind was as they were pinned into their

own 22 for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Eventually Naas won a penalty on

the Balbriggan 22, which Amy Maguire, the most reliable kicker in the league,

converted to leave Naas trailing by 10 points to 19 with 55 minutes on the clock.

Balbriggan then hit back with the best try of the day, with forwards and backs

combining to exploit the space on the wing. The wind made the conversion

extremely difficult, so the score stood at 10 points to 24 with 60 minutes gone.

The home side then gave the lively crowd something to cheer about, as centre

Sheena Hubbard charged down a desperate clearance kick in the Balbriggan 22,

and then managed to touch down to bring Naas into bonus point territory.

With the score now at 17 24, Balbriggan once more managed to beat Naas for pace

on the wing with the last score of the game, followed by an excellent conversion in

the wind. Final score 17 31.

Naas women can take great heart from an admirable performance against a very

good Balbriggan team. Next up for the Kildare women is a visit to Wicklow on

Sunday 27 th .

Naas
15 Zoe Dunbar
14 Shauna Kinsella
13 Laura Power 
12 Sheena Hubbard
11 Aoife Furlong
10 Amy McGuire
9 Orlaith Graham
1 Rachel Clarke
2 Ellen Murray
3 Emma Tully
4 Bev Mahon (C)
5 Katie Halpin
6 Cleo Hubbard 
7 Asta Rowe
8 Jane Fallon
16 Sorcha Nolan
17 Steph Gleeson
18 Alix Benn
19 Amy Moran
20 Ais Mahon
21 Ciara McKeown
22 Jamie Garland