Arklow U18 Girls vs Kilkenny

Left to right.

Br

Clea Kinsella, Ruby Tracey, Aoibe Merrigan, Sinead McCarthy, Freya Molloy, Julia Byrne, Holly Healy, Ellie McCann, Laragh O Callaghan-Royo, Alex Murphy, Idabella Hill.

Fr.

Ruby Healy, Sophia Hunt- Byrne, Pearl Tyner, Freya Brennan (co captain), Sophia White (co captain), Emma Gannon, Jade Carroll, Zoe Hunt-Byrne, Lia Hulin, Olivia Burke

ARKLOW U18 GIRLS CROWNED LEINSTER PREMIER CHAMPIONS*

Arklow 20

Mullingar 19

Kilkenny RFC

Eoin Horkan 

On a beautiful day in Kilkenny RFC on Sunday 26th April the two top teams in Leinster met for the fourth time this season. Arklow owed Mullingar some revenge after losing a hard fought game in the cup semi final only last week, and the south east girls got their revenge.

Arklow made all the early running, with the forwards pushing hard, and Ruby Healy almost getting over the line, but rather than being held up she pushed the ball back for it to be spread out to the backs and Ruby Tracey scored in the corner. Despite Arklows strong start, Mullingar moved into a 12 - 5 lead. 

They had to work hard for that lead, with Freya Molloy, Sophia Byrne and co captain Freya Brennan putting in monstrous tackles throughout. Freya Molloy's carrying eventually paid off with a try of her own to leave it 12-10 to Mullingar at half time.

The second half was a cagey affair with Mullingar eventually working their way over the try line with a good move off a scrum. But Arklow weren't done yet, and co-captain Sophia White, fresh from her exploits with Ireland in the six  nations, took a quick tap penalty and burst over the line to leave it 19-15 with time left. 

This was an attritional game on hard ground, with both teams needing to tend to players throughout, so only referee Simon Porter really knew how long was left, but that didn't worry the Arklow girls, and a good kick in play saw Emma Gannon, covering on the wing, chase down the kick and grubber the ball twice before touching down in the corner. 

 There was a point in it  with only minutes to play, and Mullingar weren't finished. Arklow played keep ball to run down the clock, with the forwards doing some hard short carrying, ably assisted by Pearl Tyner and her fellow backs, but the ball was turned over and Arklow found themselves defending their line with a minute to go. Mullingar threw everything at Arklow, but it was to be Arklows day, with huge tackles from Pearl Tyner and Sinead McCarthy stopping them in their tracks and Arklow eventually turning the ball over with Isabella Hill diving on a loose ball and winning the penalty. But the referee still had time on his watch, and Mullingar came out on top at the resulting kick, before the ball was turned over again deep in Arklows twenty two , for an Arklow scrum. This time referee Porter spoke those magic words, final play, and Sophia White booted the ball dead to the final whistle and a one point win.

 The scenes of celebration were a pleasure to see as this Arklow team had fallen short in the South East Cup final and the Leinster Cup Semi Final, and a win on the biggest stage is nothing more than they deserved.