Storm Erik had thankfully made its exit by the time kickoff rolled around and we were left with a perfect evening for rugby as St Marys made the short trip to Stradbrook Road to face Blackrock in Round 11 of the AIL.

Mary’s started positively and forced a couple of penalties from the home side, with Shayne Richardson finding good touches but they were unable to trouble the scoreboard from the resulting lineouts.

It was Blackrock who made hay in the last of the February sunshine as they ruthlessly took advantage of any Mary’s mistake. Right wing Roisin Crowe opened the scoring on 10 mins, followed by the impressive openside Grace Kelly, inside centre Maeve Og O’Leary and pacey left wing Ray Lawless who secured the try bonus on the stroke of halftime to make it 22-0 to the home side.

The second half followed largely the same pattern. A Mary’s lineout on the Rock 22 was turned over and the home side went the length of the field for Alison Coleman to cross for the 5th try which was converted to see the score move on to 29-0.

Despite a strong set piece and some trojan carries from loose forwards Aoife Moore, Heather Cary and Casey O’Brien, and swift service from the ever-reliable Aoife Thompson, Marys just could not make the breakthrough.

Further tries for the home side came courtesy of fullback Amy Cotter, with O’Leary grabbing her second after a powerful midfield burst.

The industrious Hannah O’Connor profited from some uncertainty in the Marys in-goal to notch the eight try and take the final score to 48-0 to Blackrock who move up to 3rd in the table.

Report and pictures – JC Sports Photography