Kilkenny Ladies claim big home win over Longford in Leinster League

The Kilkenny Women welcomed Longford on a bright but brisk Sunday afternoon.

Looking to extend their winning streak, the home side have been putting in serious work on the training pitch every week, and this weekend was no exception.

Meg Callanan got things underway for Kilkenny with a booming kick that unfortunately bounced over the dead-ball line.

Spotting a gap, the Longford scrum-half broke from halfway and sprinted to within 10 metres of the Kilkenny try line, but Tina Wright tracked back brilliantly to make a crucial, try-saving tackle.

From the resulting pressure, Longford earned a scrum on the Kilkenny five-metre line, but the Kilkenny pack held firm with a solid defensive shove.

After a series of penalties conceded by Longford, Callanan found touch beautifully and kept the pressure on.

From the ensuing play, Leah O’Brien carried strongly and linked with quick hands to Eve Cronin, who powered over for the opening try.

With the conversion added, Kilkenny led 7–0. Minutes later, Cronin struck again, this time crossing under the posts after another well-constructed attacking move, pushing the score out to 14–0.

Longford continued to battle and worked hard to get into the Kilkenny half, but the home defence stood resolute, leading to a stop–start passage of play with plenty of back-and-forth.

Eventually, sustained Kilkenny pressure at scrum time forced a Longford knock-on.

From the resulting scrum, the Kilkenny pack dominated and Caroline Quirke peeled away from the base to crash over just before half-time, extending the lead to 19–0.

Kilkenny started the second half explosively and were unlucky to have an early score ruled out.

It didn’t take long, however, for Cronin to complete her hat-trick.

She showed great pace down the touchline before cutting in to finish under the posts, making it 26–0 to Kilkenny.

From the restart, Longford barely had time to regroup before Rosa Phelan cut through the defence to score under the posts, stretching the advantage to 33–0.

Kilkenny were then reduced to 14 players when a yellow card was shown, giving Longford a brief lift.

In a game that mirrored itself at times, Longford soon found themselves down to 14 as well when they received a yellow card of their own.

A penalty scrum to Longford saw them produce a powerful shove and gain some momentum just as Kilkenny momentarily eased off the throttle.

With five minutes remaining, Kilkenny received a second yellow card and were forced to dig deep with reduced numbers.

Isla Mosse produced a massive turnover in Kilkenny’s own half, assisted by excellent work from Lorna McMahon.

Moments later, Emily Kenny pounced on loose ball and broke away with the Longford try line in sight.

She offloaded smartly to Cronin in support, who went over for Kilkenny’s final try of the day, sealing a 38–0 victory. It was a punishing afternoon for Longford and their travelling supporters, with nothing on the scoreboard to show for their efforts.

For Kilkenny, it was an outstanding all-round performance and another emphatic win to keep their winning run alive.

The Kilkenny Women now look forward to their next fixture on November 23 against Barnhall, with a well-earned rest and reset before then.