Terrific Tullamore ladies bring home the silverware in derby final

On a brilliant occasion for women’s rugby in Leinster, the Tullamore women emerged victorious against local rivals Mullingar.

The game commenced with huge collisions, and massive physicality. The Tullamore pack putting the pressure on a young Mullingar set up early on. It wasn’t long before Saoirse Quinn powered over to put the Tullamore women ahead. Becky Gavin added on the extras putting the Tulliers 7-0 ahead.

Paul Flood Plate Final: Tullamore 33 Mullingar 14

With the wind at their backs, Tullamore kept up a strong attack. With the pack asserting serious dominance, creating a great attacking platform for the backline. Lightning quick Leah McInerney didn’t waste any time as she shot past Mullingar defenders to dot down under the posts.
Becky Gavin’s boot put us 14-0 up.

The half finished out with a purple patch from the Mullingar young guns, however Tullamore’s defensive effort left them scoreless until the second half.

Early on in the 2nd half we got a glimpse of Mullingar’s attack and they got over the tryline. However, it wasn’t long until the Tulliers were back on the hunt for a score. The score came eventually through powerful prop Eve Tarpey batting away Mullingar defenders to get over the try line to bring the score to 19-7.

Confidence was flowing in the Tullamore camp and they began to move the ball out wide with great work from scrum half Aoibhe Kelly and full back Sinead Rigney. The ball was worked out wide to Leah again, who was only too happy to leave Mullingar women grasping at air as she sped past. Now it was 26-7.

Mullingar aren’t a team to go down easy and they showed great tenacity to force Tullamore back up the pitch and get the score, leaving the scoreline 26-14.

As we heading for the final few minutes, players were out on their feet after a hugely physical battle. However that didn’t stop out-half Abi Connon dancing around the tired Mullingar defence, to pass it into the hands on Leah McInerney who crossed the whitewash for a hat trick of tries.

Unfortunately the game was called after 77 minutes due to a serious injury to a Mullingar player. We all at Tullamore wish her a speedy recovery.

We look forward to facing Mullingar next weekend in the Midlands Cup Final.

TULLAMORE: Eve Tarpey, Roisin Feighery, Robin Maher, Saidhbh McIntyre, Ciara Dunne, Saoirse Quinn, Niamh Hickey, Hannah Foxe, Aoibhe Kelly, Becky Gavin, Leah McInerney, Shannon Touhey, Fiona Dixon, Aggie O'Connell, Sinead Rigney. Replacements - Dani Murphy, Catriona Kielty, Ellie Flanagan, Doireann Oman, Abaigael Connon, Vanessa Craven, Laura Phelan, Penny Rowe