It was a disappointing weekend for Ulster sides in the Women’s AIL with only two teams out of the six recording wins.
In AIL 1 Cooke are still looking their first win of the season and the injury hit Belfast side can count themselves unlucky to come up against an in form Blackrock with the Leinster side running away with the game in the second half. Cooke managed to get on the scoreboard with tries from Lauren Day and Grace Davitt, who also converted one, but the Shaws Bridge outfit will be looking to regroup over the two week break in the league and hope that some of their more experienced players make a return from injury.
In AIL2 Belfast Harlequins stole the show running in 13 tries in a demolition of league newcomers Barnhill. Front Row Union Player of last Season Nikki Caughey scored 29 points in total, including four tries, with Zoe Templeton, Ashleigh Baxter, Lesleyann Stirling and, South African, Ilse van Staden all adding a brace a piece and Sorcha Chipperfield adding one.
Cavan finally got a win under their belts, unfortunately it was against fellow Ulster side Carrick, with a Hilary Quinn inspired Cavan running out comfortable winners scoring 29 unanswered points. Firebrand wing-forward Quinn scored four of Cavan’s tries with Caroline O’Reilly adding the fifth, Ellen Cahill converted two in the win that sees Cavan leap to 5th in the league.
Enniskillen will be pleased with their performance against a strong Longford side with ‘Skins looking to be developing nicely. Enniskillen showed great determination throughout and can count themselves unlucky to lose to the league leaders by a solitary try.
The big surprise, to me at least, was City of Derry’s home defeat to Garda in what was a hard fought contest. We haven’t got the scorers in yet for Derry but all reports point to an unlucky defeat with Garda holding on to win 8 – 12 at Judges Road.
Weekend Results
| AIL 1 | Cooke | 12 – 43 | Blackrock | Shaws Bridge |
| AIL 2N | Carrickfergus | 0 – 29 | Cavan | Carrickefergus |
| AIL 2N | City Of Derry | 8 – 12 | Garda | Judge’s Road |
| AIL 2N | Enniskillen | 0 – 5 | Longford RFC | Enniskillen |
| AIL 2N | NUIM Barnhall | 5 – 74 | Belfast Harlequins | Parsonstown |
AIL 1 League Standings
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | U.L. Bohemian | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 112 | 10 | 102 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Blackrock | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 23 | 47 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 3 | St. Mary’s | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 49 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Highfield | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 47 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Old Belvedere | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 44 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | Galwegians | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 53 | -41 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Cooke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 67 | -33 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Navan RFC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 79 | -74 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
AIL2N League Standings
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Longford RFC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Belfast Harlequins | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 10 | 74 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Garda | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 8 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 4 | Enniskillen | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 22 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Cavan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 43 | -9 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Cill Dara RFC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | City Of Derry | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 39 | -14 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | NUIM Barnhall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 113 | -108 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Carrickfergus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 68 | -68 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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