A spirited Enniskillen lost out to a strong City of Derry side 10 – 22 in this entertaining Women’s AIL 2N League match at Enniskillen Rugby Club on Sunday afternoon.

Derry were without three of their Ulster representatives but they still managed to put out a strong side with veteran Diane Nixon leading the way. In fact it was Nixon who grabbed the opening score shortly after kick off forcing her way over the line off the back of a ruck.  The conversion was missed and the visitors led 0 – 5.

The young Enniskillen side took this setback in their stride and proceeded to dominate large periods of the first half with centre pairing Sarah Teague and Alana McCaffrey particularly impressive. However despite their territorial advantage the home side were only able to post 3 points, thanks to a penalty from Teague, moving the scoreboard along to 3 – 5.

Enniskillen continued to push but City of Derry hit back on the counter as the end of the first half approached, with  Derry’s winger Ciara McGurk making her way down the left only to be stopped short. From the resulting scrum No 8 Nixon broke through a series of tackles to power her way over the line taking the half time score to Enniskillen 3 City of Derry 10.

Derry went further ahead at the start of the second half with Glenda Mellon storming clear from the half way line and when speedster McGurk jinked through the Skins defence to touch down under the posts, for Rachel Lennox to convert, Derry looked out of sight with the score at 3 – 22.

Enniskillen refused to lie down and, with youngster Gemma McCutcheon leading the charge, the home side pressed hard for a try of their own. Eventually their pressure was rewarded when full back Tara McDonagh found space and made the line in the closing minutes of the game. Aisling McCaughey converted with the final kick of the game to bring the final score to Enniskillen 10 City of Derry 22.

Enniskillen: Helen Carleton, Aisling Maguire, Catherine Mallon, Martina Dunne, Roisin Gleeson, Deirdre Donnelly, Aisling McCaughey, Gemma McCutcheon, Noreen Nethercott, Eimear Corrigan, Leanne Hall, Sarah Teague, Alana McCaffery, Shauna Hall, Tara McDonagh, Joy Clements

City of Derry: To follow