A travelling party of 24 gathered in Dublin airport early last Friday for the Balbriggan women’s team pre-season trip to Bergamo. After a refreshing lunch the squad made the trip to Linate to play local club Parabiago. Both teams are in pre-season mode and took part in a joint warm up and drills, with Balbriggan showing off their new training tops. A 20 minute session of less than full contact was followed by a proper half of rugby. Balbriggan dominated the initial exchanges, forcing the hosts into conceding a succession of penalties. This dominance led to the opening score from newly appointed team captain Holly Keogh. But Parabiago, who finished 2nd in their group in Serie A last season fought back to edge a close encounter by 2 tries to 1. Afterwards the hosts put on a great spread and both squads enjoyed the refreshments! On the Saturday the tourists enjoyed a great day exploring the old town of Bergamo in spectacular sunshine before gathering for an exchange of “colourful” shirts and heading out for a wonderful night in the Tucan’s Irish bar where a kangaroo court was held and suitable punishments meted out for any transgressions on tour. The weather broke on the Sunday with the rain driving everyone indoors. Half the squad took the opportunity to visit nearby Milan with the remainder staying put in Bergamo before all meeting up for the return flight to Dublin late on Sunday evening. The team would like to thank our hosts, Parabiago for a great game and post-match reception. We wish them well for their coming season.
We would also like to thank team sponsors Herbie Tyres and Balbriggan Braces for their continued support, and Tracey McFadden from McFadden’s who sponsored our tour tops.
