The Women’s All Ireland League campaigns kick off this Sunday and five of the six Ulster sides in the All Ireland Leagues are involved in the opening fixtures.
Cooke v St Mary’s
Cooke Ladies fly the solitary Ulster flag in AIL 1 and the Shaws Bridge outfit have a tough opener at home against Dublin outfit St. Mary’s in what should be a spikey affair up front! Both sides will be looking to build on successful Inter Provincial campaigns with three St Mary’s players involved in the Leinster side that won the competition and nine Cookies involved in the much improved Ulster side that won their final game against Connacht.
Cooke will be missing a few big names for this opening fixture and will be calling up some dual registers from Queens University but with a pack consisting of Emma Lowe, Suzie McVeigh, Elina Martin Piniero, Laura Boyd, Ruth Beattie, Shirelle Wilson, Lizzie Ballentine and Nikita Armstrong they should be strong enough up front though whether the make shift backs will be able to make the advantage count is their main concern.
They will have the Ulster half back paring of Nikita Armstrong and Grace Davitt together with Teah Maguire, Jess Elliott and Laura Johnson, but the absence of Laura Nicholl, Claire McLaughlin and Eliza Downey will be a big loss for the home side.
AIL 2N kicks off with two Ulster derbys with Belfast Harlequins taking on Cavan at Co Cavan RFC and City of Derry hosting Enniskillen at Judge’s Road on Sunday afternoon. All four sides had key players featuring in Ulster’s recent resurgence and there will be some interesting head to heads in these opening fixtures.
Cavan v Belfast Harlequins.
This game features the two most improved sides of last season with Quins young backs Caughey, Baxter and Templeton forcing their way into the Ulster set up this season. Cavan couldn’t buy a win at the start of last season but, under the leadership of Reynolds and Quinn, who saw Ulster action last season, the team really kicked on and were duly rewarded with three more players being called into the Ulster panel with all three featuring in development games against the other Provinces.
Missing 17 players for this game Quins are sending down an experimental side, with Ulster team manager Natalie Bryant called up as emergency cover on the bench. They will be relieved to have Ulster player Sorcha Chipperfield available at prop with a big Cavan pack looking to drive the ball on with the 8, 9 axis of Reynolds and Quinn looking to keep things tight for the home side.
The most interesting head to head will be at scrum half with feisty characters Hilary Quinn for Cavan and Zoe Templeton for Quins likely to enjoy a few tussles! It could get tasty!
Cavan: Caroline O’Reilly, Emer McBrien, Claire McDermott, Christine Brady, Grainne McDermott, Yvonne Courtney, Kathy King, Brigid Reynolds, Hilary Quinn, Ellen Cahill, Theresa White, Kathleen Dawson, Eimear Ryan, Elena Farell, Deirdre O’Reilly
Quins: Sorcha Chipperfield, Frankie Durieix, Brenda Artt, Kara Swales, Emma Boyd, Cassie Hynds, Annmarie Nolan, Kathryn Hanna, Zoe Templeton, Jenny Waide, Lauren Moore, Nikki Caughey, Lesleyann Stirling, Suzanne Kennedy, Ashleigh Baxter, Stephanie Ballentine, Sally Nelson, Ciara Dunwoody, Lesley Megarity, Natalie Bryant
City of Derry v Enniskillen.
This could be the most entertaining match of the weekend with both sides keen to play rugby. Skins feature our “Player of the Inter Pros” Gemma McCutcheon at number eight and the whole of Women’s rugby in Ulster will be delighted to see the return of the fantastically gifted Brenda Brogan in the centre. Brogan and McCutcheon will need to be at their best against what can only be described as a highly competitive City of Derry side who will be looking to get the season off to a winning start at home.
Derry welcome back Rachel Lennox and Natasha Milligan from their South African adventure this season with both players keen to show off their new skills and interestingly they have moved Bridin McDermott into the back row in what could be an exciting development. Classy centre Kelly Holmes will be up against Brogan in an interesting head to head but the clash of the weekend must be at the back of the scrum where Ulster and Ireland hooker Stacey-lea Kennedy slips back to the number eight spot to take on the girl of the moment Gemma McCutcheon.
To describe these two Ulster players as competitive would be a bit of an understatement and I wouldn’t dare predict who’ll come out on top in this one! They’re both my favourites! (After Brigid at Cavan of course! 
)
City Of Derry: Gemma Lynch, Laura McCool, Eden Guthrie, Michelle McLaughlin, Catherine Taylor, Emma McGinley, Bridin McDermott, Stacey-lea Kennedy, Louise Clarke, Rachel Lennox, Andrea Sheppard, Kelly Holmes, Alice Wylie, Natasha Milligan, Karen Canavan, Deirdre Crabtree, Glenda Mellon, Alana McCafferty
Enniskillen: Sarah Dourish, Aisling Maguire, Alice Swan, Catherine Mallon, Wendy Rogers, Helen Carleton, Martina Dunne, Gemma McCutcheon, Noreen Nethercott, Caoimhe Morris, Leanne Hall, Eimear Corrigan, Brenda Brogan, Alexa Grudgings, Sarah Teague, Caitriona Cody
Fixtures.
| AIL 1 | |||||
| Sun 2nd Oct 11 | 13:00 | Cooke | v | St. Mary’s | Shaws Bridge |
| AIL 2N | |||||
| Sun 2nd Oct 11 | 13:00 | Cavan | v | Belfast Harlequins | Cavan |
| Sun 2nd Oct 11 | 13:00 | City Of Derry | v | Enniskillen | Judge’s Road |
| Sun 2nd Oct 11 | 13:00 | NUIM Barnhall | v | Longford RFC | Parsonstown |
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