Railway Union 7 

Blackrock College produced an outstanding second half display at Energia Park on Saturday to secure the Women’s All-Ireland League crown at the expense of previous champions Railway Union.

Two points adrift at the break, ‘Rock proceeded to amass 22 unanswered points on the resumption to ultimately dethrone their south Dublin rivals.

After surviving some initial pressure from the Railway attack, ‘Rock opened the scoring with just over five minutes gone on the clock. Following an extended spell inside the opposition ’22’, a skip pass from Ireland international Enya Breen released winger Maeve Liston for a routine finish in the right-corner.

There was still plenty of rugby left to play, of course, and Railway full-back Molly Scuffil-McCabe (an international debutant earlier this year) was on hand to break through a defensive gap for an equalising try in the 26th-minute.

Nikki Caughey added the bonuses to edge her side into a slender 7-5 advantage and while both teams enjoyed their fair share of possession in the closing minutes of the opening period, this buffer remained intact at the interval.

‘Rock were once again the quickest out of the traps at the beginning of the second half, however, and turned the game on its head with two tries in the space of five minutes.

Key figures for Munster at interprovincial level, Dorothy Wall (Tipperary) and Breen (Cork) powered over the whitewash in quick succession to leave their opponents with a mountain to climb inside the final-quarter.

Railway suffered an additional set-back when Caughey was sin-binned with just 13 minutes left on the clock and Rock immediately capitalised on their temporary numerical supremacy – left-wing Anna Doyle getting on the end of a sweeping move across the Railway line for her side’s fourth try of the action.

This five-pointer edged ‘Rock a step closer to the promised land and the outcome was placed beyond all doubt courtesy of Liston’s second try on 73 minutes.

Scorers for Blackrock College: Tries: M Liston (2), D Wall, E Breen, A Doyle. Cons: E Breen.

Scorers for Railway Union: Tries: M Scuffil-McCabe. Cons: N Caughey.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: M Deely; M Liston, M Claffey, E Durkan, A Doyle; E Breen, T Bird; A Moore, E Hooban, L Feely; E Corri, M Holohan; D Wall, M Og O’Leary, H O’Connor.

Replacements: A Coleman for Corri (12), Corri for Holohan (18), C Haney for Feely, B Cregan for O’Leary, N Behan for Deely (all 47), Feely for Moore (61), L Mullen for Bird (70), C Scanlan for Durkan (72), S Heapes for Haney, J Shiels for Breen (both 76).

RAILWAY UNION: M Scuffil-McCabe; S Carroll, N Byrne, A O’Shaughnessy, A Clarke; N Caughey, A Hughes; L Peat, C Blackmore, K O’Dwyer; K Brady, A McDermott; C Rodera, M Boyne, D Roberts.

Replacements: M Collis for O’Dwyer (33), L Tarpey for Hughes (53), L Callan for Blackmore, S McDermott for Brady (both 64), A Ryder for Carroll (70), G O’Loughlin for Peat (73), E Fabby for Boyne (76), E Allen for Caughey (77).

Referee: J Erskine (IRFU).