Portlaoise 59 Wexford 22
Leinster U-14 Girls Rugby Cup Round 1
The Wexford U-14 Girls wandered their way to PRFC to take on the current Leinster Cup holders Portlaoise in the first round of the Leinster Cup last weekend.
Proceeding were underway on what was a bright, cool but windy afternoon on the first pitch in Portlaoise.
Portlaoise would apply the pressure immediately, inside the first few minutes Portlaoise would take the lead thanks to an impressive run by Freya Stanley who would race through the pack onto the wing to finish neatly under the posts.
Portlaoise would continue their dominance by applying the pressure upon the restart. Great work by Orlaith Costigan and Faye Scully, Portlaoise would find themselves in a great scoring position again.
A quick ball by Emily Harvey to Saffron Adams would see her glide through the Wanders defence to finish under the posts.
Straight from the kick off Portlaoise would be on the attack again. A Sarah Keane pass out on to the wing would release Molly Jane Dempsey who would run 3 quarters of the pitch to again touch down under the posts.
Portlaoise were still hungry and again after the kick off were back on the attack. Brilliant carries from Daisy Whitten would allow Portlaoise gain huge territory into the Wanders half.
Quick thinking from Captain Chloe Kavanagh would release Freya Stanley again for another try. Portlaoise were relentless again from the kick off.
The driving force of Jessica Delaney this time making the hard yards to release Saffron Adams again would cross the white line for Portlaoise.
Saffron Adams was flawless with her conversions until this one but the miss was not her fault – rather a mistake by Coach Graham Peavoy who brought in the wrong kicking tee on this occasion!
Wexford were not short of a few players themselves to be fair and constant pressure 5m outside the Portlaoise try line would eventually pay off with a converted try before half time. 33-7 Portlaoise would lead at half time.
The second half would kick off with Portlaoise being again being the dominant force. Any hope of a Wexford resurgent was quickly snuffed out by the impressive Tara Peavoy and Amy Peters.
It was the turn of Molly Fitzpatrick to make the impressive runs and cause havoc for the Wexford defence. Sarah Cunningham would release Molly Jane Dempsey who would skip her way through the Wexford defence for another try.
Jessica Horan would replace her cousin Molly Jane and instantly hit the ground running. Ella Sherlock was in her element and making some great tackles.
Freya Stanly would again cause major trouble for Wexford and race through the Wexford pack to touch down again.
As the changes rang in Portlaoise saw Abby Fitzpatrick, Cara Deegan, Muireann Thompson, Sarah Ging, Emma Ging and Bailey Campion enter the fray. Even with all the changes Portlaoise would continue with their dominance.
This time Lilly Brophy would power her way impressively along the touch line evading several tackles to cross the white line.
Wexford would respond themselves with an impressive team try which would wear Portlaoise down. Portlaoise were not finished though.
The tigerish Aoibheann Conroy would attack the heart of the Wexford defence, evading tackle after tackle. With the try line gaping Aoibheann would turn back into the chasing pack and still cross the line under the posts.
With the game now wide open Wexford would have the last say and again with an impressive team try would cross the white line.
Portlaoise Panel: Jessica Delaney, Daisy Whitten, Amy Peters, Chloe Kavanagh, Lilly Brophy, Molly Jane Dempsey, Saffron Adams, Freya Stanley, Kate Ging, Kate Dowling, Emily Harvey, Molly Fitzpatrick, Abbie Delaney, Aoibheann Conroy, Tara Peavoy, Ella Sherlock, Emma Heffernan, Faye Scully, Orlaith Costigan, Ellie Mahoney, Grace Pearson, Ciara Cuddy, Emma Fitzpatrick, Sarah Cunningham, Muireann Thompson, Sarah Keane, Jessica Horan & Meabh Dooley.
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