Balbriggan senior women’s team welcomed table toppers Naas to Bowhill last Sunday. The two teams were only separated on points difference going into the game played in crisp but ideal conditions.
The home side signalled their intent from the get go when from the kickoff thundering tackles from Shannon Campbell and Emily Kitson forced Naas into a knock on. Rachel Fanning pounced on the loose ball and drove into the visitors 22. From a quick recycle Emily, with support runners outside her was able to scythe through the Naas defence for a try within 1 minute of the start. Shannon’s conversion gave Balbriggan an early 7-0 lead.
Naas came straight back into it from the restart and forced Balbriggan to concede a number of penalties. A quick tempo from the Naas 9 saw them hit back with an unconverted try in the left corner. 7-5 with barely 5 minutes played. Game very much on.
Balbriggan settled down and their rush defence was making life decidedly uncomfortable for the Naas half backs. The back row was carrying and tackling hard and forced a penalty at half way line and the decision was taken to go down the line. From the resulting line out Naas challenged the throw but knocked the ball on. This allowed the home team to launch a strike play from the scrum. The scrum was rock solid allowing scrum half Lou McCleery to feed Emily. With runners off both shoulders Emily threw a short pass to the onrushing Laura McDonald who did brilliantly to hold the pass one handed before crashing over off the goal post. Shannon added the extras to extend the lead.
The home side was really playing well now and were soon back in the Naas 22. A knock on gave Naas a scrum about 10 metres from their own line, The Balbriggan front row was on top at this point and shunted the visitors back making it extremely hard for the Naas 9 to clear the ball away. Lou swooped on the ball and was hauled down 5m from the line. Captain Eadoin Cannon from No. 8 made a great supporting run and picked the ball from the back of the ruck and dove over for another great score beside the posts. Shannon continued her 100% kicking rate leaving the half time score Balbriggan 21 Naas 5.
The second half started with Balbriggan in the ascendancy, pinning the visitors into their own half for much of the opening 10 minutes. A series of close in pick and goes by the forwards eventually ended with the ball being held up over the goal line. From the resulting goal line drop out Laura Brown went on a mazy run bringing play up to the 22. Some strong carries from the pack freed up space out wide where Sarah McDonald timed her entry into the line to perfection allowing her to step inside the Naas winger and offload to her sister Laura. There was still plenty for Laura to do as she fended off the cover defender before rounding the full back for another wonderful try, her second of the match.
To their credit Naas didn’t crumble and came back strong. From a scrum penalty in Balbriggan’s 22 they moved the ball right where their centre was hauled down a couple of feet from the line. A couple of phases later they forced their way over for a converted try that reduced the gap to 26-12. It was a real ding dong game now with both teams going at each other with gusto. Balbriggan marched back down into the visitor’s half and earned a penalty 30m from the Naas line. A strong carry from Stephanie Campbell brought play into the 22 where Naas were penalised again for hands in the ruck. Emily took a quick tap and was stopped 5m from the line. Quick hands from the backs saw Shannon released to score the try.
Naas didn’t lie down and with time running out went on the offensive and attacking right to left released their winger to score. The conversion brought the deficit down to 12. From the resulting restart a lovely exchange of passes between the Naas centres saw the 13 race home from 60m for another converted try. There were now only 5 points in it with less than 5 minutes to play. Despite the wobble, Balbriggan didn’t panic and saw out the remainder of the game in the Naas half. Final score Balbriggan 31 Naas 26.
This bonus point win sees Balbriggan move back to the top of the league with 4 games to go. Huge thanks to the supporters who came out in the cold to cheer the team home. Shout out to Andy from the Stingers who acted as water boy on the day. Thanks very much Andy, enjoy your big day in the Aviva next Saturday when the Stingers take to the field for the half time game during Leinster’s big European Cup match against Stade Francais. Finally a special word for our mascot Sophie who has led the team out for the last number of games and ran the kicking tee with aplomb. We’ve never lost when Sophie has been there!!
Next up is a tough road trip to New Ross all travelling support is welcome.
