Mullingar girls topple rivals Navan

Mullingar’s U18 girls had an emphatic win over traditional rivals Navan on Saturday. For many seasons Mullingar have played second fiddle to the Navan girls, but this time the roles were reversed against a very good team that for years has consistently been among those at the top of the Leinster U18 League Premier Division.

From the kick-off the Mullingar girls tore into Navan with a combination of driving forward play and switching back moves, which formed the basis of Mullingar’s attack all day, the first try was scored within the opening five minutes by captain Sophie Treanor with a supported pick and carry.

This sparked a fiercely contested first half of outstanding rugby, which despite Mullingar hammering the Navan line in the closing 10 minutes saw Navan leading 7-5 at the break. Navan’s only score of the game resulted from great break-out play and the defensive line eventually breaking close to the posts.

At the break, the half-time discussion seemed to galvanise the Mullingar side, and with the slight downhill now behind them they settled into turning defence into attack, applying constant pressure that seemed relentless for the remainder of the game.

Time after time Navan’s attacks were shut down, the ball turned over, and the momentum reversed through a combination of hard running and switch-play from 10 (Molly Swanson), 12 (Áine Hayden) and 13 (Alanna O’Connor-Norris). Solid driving play from forwards, operating in pods, after such a turnover lead to no. 8 Georgia Young picking and scoring Mullingar’s second try 10 minutes in.

A third try came shortly after, resulting from the direction-changing backline switches between Swanson, Hayden and O’Connor-Norris that broke the gain-line for Mullingar on almost every occasion.

With Navan having to (wisely) close-mark Áine Hayden, half gaps were opening up for centre partner Alanna O’Connor-Norris to charge into, leading to Mullingar’s third score with 20 minutes still to play.

Navan mounted a number of attacks throughout the second half and always looked dangerous, but the Mullingar cover defence scrambled well and even Navan’s speedy outside backs were repeatedly swallowed up.

On the back of yet another turn-over, Mullingar drove two pods to the half-way line before the backline moved the ball through the hands to winger Jodie Ahern, who impressively sprinted past the remaining defenders to finish with a score 15 metres from touch.

With the game now slipping away from Navan, pressure was turned up yet another notch and Sophie Treanor scored her second, only for the ref to find himself on the opposite side of the ruck and not see what the entire sideline could and rule the attempt held up.

The clock was starting to wind down, and with Navan throwing the kitchen sink at Mullingar fly half Molly Swanson took advantage of Navan’s passing under pressure, and pulled off what’s become a trademark intercept, outsprinting the cover from 30 metres out to finish the match with a try, bringing the final score to 27-7 in Mullingar’s favour.

Other notable performances worth mentioning came from Kelly Burke, Isobel Clerk and Eve Byrne, but in reality the entire team could be singled out.

This was truly an impressive spectacle from two sides that have been rivals since they played each other at U10s, with practically all scores coming from genuine team-play and long periods where the calibre of rugby was of a level expected of far more senior teams. If this is the standard at U18 it bodes well for the future of women’s rugby!