BallinaKillaloe RFC secure first ever Munster title win.

BallinaKillaloe U18 Girls won their Munster League Final this Saturday in keenly fought and highly entertaining match vs Clonakilty RFC at Fermoy Showgrounds.

This is the first ever Munster title for BKRFC after previous Youths rugby success in North Munster competitions.

BKRFC started off the scoring with a well taken try from Player of the match, Tova McMahon bursting through the Clonakilty defence after a quick tap penalty. Clonakilty were not for wilting, and immediately responded with a line break out wide on the right, their winger rounding the defence to score under the posts, and draw the game 7-7 with less that 8 minutes played.

BallinaKillaloe however struck back straight away, regaining possession in the Clonakilty 22, and after a period of pressure, scoring out wide on the right.

The half continued with BallinaKillaloe rebuffing Clonakilty pressure and twice breaking downfield, through good recycling, switching the play to the right and the left, scoring two more unconverted tries from Robyn McKenna & Emily Byrne to leave it 22-7 going into the final play of the half.

A blindside break down the right, by Rebecca Rogers powering through a couple of tackles to score under the posts finished an excellent half of rugby, 29-7 to BallinaKillaloe at the break.

Clonakilty were never going to give up, and the first 15 minutes of the second half saw continued Clonakilty possession and pressure in the BallinaKillaloe 22, with Clonakilty crossing the tryline 3 times yet unfortunately not scoring to last ditch tackling and a never say die attitude from BallinaKillaloe, holding the ball up twice and forcing a knock on when a try seemed more than certain.

As is their want, BallinaKillaloe regained possession and slowly worked the ball up the pitch, through strong carries from all the players especially Tova at 7 Grainne Mahony at 10 and Robyn at 6, who put in a massive effort all over the field. . In truth, all BallinaKillaloe players stepped up to the mark today, especially Zoe Loughran, who eventually succumbed to cramp near the end.

Two more BallinaKillaloe tries put a gloss on the final score, 39-7 but that’s not to say Clonakilty were outplayed, they fought to the bitter end, giving it all on the pitch and after.

Both sides are a great advertisement for Munster girls rugby.

Special mention to all the parents, families and supporters who made the trip to Fermoy, many thanks to all at Munster Rugby, and to Brendan Foley for presenting the Player of the match awards.

BallinaKillaloe

Coaches:

Grace Kearney; Ken McKeogh; Tyrone Elliott

Team:

15 Zoe Loughran
14 Eibhlis Coleman
13 Fionnuala O’Rahilly
12 Emily Byrne
11 Anna Hanly
10 Grainne Mahony
9 Rebecca Rogers
1 Alice Walsh
2 Hayley Byrnes
3 Alannah O’Donovan
4 Ella Joslin
5 Ellie McEvoy
6 Robyn McKenna
7 Tova McMahon
8 Karen O’Mahony
16 Maeve O’Brien
17 Edie Reynolds
18 Ciara anna mulkern
19 Roisin Mockler
20 Ciara Fitzgibbon
21 Siobhan Coakley
22 Sarah McEvoy
23 Caoimhe Maguire