Railway Union retained the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Division trophy with a pulsating 24-18 final win over Blackrock College at Energia Park.
Eve Higgins delivered a player-of-the-match performance and her Ireland colleague Ailsa Hughes snapped up a brace of tries as the Sandymount club won just their second ever league crown.
A breathless first half finished 14-8 in Railway’s favour, Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Hughes both touching down with Blackrock’s Hannah O’Connor replying off the back of a scrum.
The defending champions coped well during Katie Heffernan’s sin-binning, Nikki Caughey clipping over a penalty in response to two Meabh Deely kicks.
Into the final quarter, Hughes and Emma Hooban traded tries - Deely adding an excellent conversion to restore the six-point gap - but Railway stood firm despite a yellow card for tighthead Katie O’Dwyer.
Suttonians
Emily McKeown touched down twice as Suttonians swept past Galwegians on a 26-0 scoreline to be crowned the first ever Women’s Division Conference champions.
Stephen Costelloe’s charges completed a six-match post-Christmas winning run with a stellar four-try performance at Energia Park, the same venue where they gained their AIL status back in 2019.
Outhalf Nicole Carroll inspired a 13-0 half-time lead for Suttonians, providing two try assists and landing the first of two penalty attempts.
Speed merchant McKeown (17 minutes) and captain Lauren Farrell McCabe (36) registered the tries, with Galwegians held scoreless despite a couple of bright spells.
McKeown, who was part of Greg McWilliams’ recent national screening camp, doubled her tally before Galwegians captain Mairéad Coyne saw yellow at the start of the final quarter, following a prior team warning.
It was a valiant effort from ‘Wegians, but a second penalty from Carroll, the player-of-the-match, and a sparkling team try, run in by Catherine Martin, rounded off a dream day for the north Dubliners.
Tries from Alana McInerney, Clodagh O’Halloran and Eimear Considine saw UL Bohemians edge out Old Belvedere 19-17, winning the 3rd-4th place play-off in the early game in Donnybrook.
