I caught up with the opening round of the Women’s All Ireland League as Cooke welcomed Railway Union to Shaws Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

Our featured match was the closest game of the afternoons offering with Cooke coming out the right side of the scoreline with a 14 – 7 win. The result was something of a turnaround for the Belfast outfit who lost 62 – 5 against the same opposition in the final league match of last season. 

Cooke’s coach Grace Davitt has recruited well over the summer and new starts Jemma Jackson, Lauren Maginnes and Emma Jordan all had impressive debuts, Maginnis in particular racking up a lot of yards with the ball in hand. 

However it was “old stager” Eliza Downey who was the difference between the two teams in the first half having a hand in both of Cooke’s scores. 

Railway Union got off to an impressive start keeping Cooke pinned in their own half for the first ten minutes until a break down the right by Downey set up Beth Cregan for the opening score on the 13th minute and it was a second Downey break that led to the referee awarding a penalty try after a high tackle meters from the line. Jemma Jackson converted both to give Cooke a 14 – 0 lead at the break. 

Railway Union battled their way back into the game with a penalty try of their own midway through the second half after a last gasp charge from Downey was ruled illegal.  However Cooke regained control for the remainder of the half and were able to see out the game in reasonable comfort. 

The first week of the Women’s All Ireland League featured home wins for Cooke, Old Belvedere and UL Bohemians with Galwegians the only team to record an away win, beating St Mary’s at Templeville Road. 

League Standings

After week one the table looks like this:

Team	P	W	D	PD	BP	PTS
U.L. Bohemian	1	1	0	55	1	5
Galwegians	1	1	0	36	1	5
Old Belvedere	1	1	0	24	1	5
Cooke	1	1	0	7	0	4
Railway Union	1	0	0	(7)	1	1
Blackrock	1	0	0	(24)	0	0
St. Mary’s	1	0	0	(36)	0	0
Highfield	1	0	0	(55)	0	0