Mullingar Ladies 17 Tullow RFC 00 

 By Finian Coghlan 

Mullingar produce the perfect half to leapfrog Tullow at the top of Divison 1

Midway through the second half little Anna Miller toddled up the line to
her dad and handed him a mandarin orange for his attention. As you do when
you’re two. 
Tenderly, coach Miller stooped and peeled the fruit without any regard for
the ongoing game, and handed the juicy reward to the hungry face.
That he was able to do this at the height of the biggest game of the season
was down to just two things. 
One, this was his girl, and mammy was busy further up the line roaring her
tonsils out, and two, he could afford to attend to such a dainty
distraction because he was supremely confident his preparation of his team
had been as close to perfect as one could manage, and he could safely turn
his attention elsewhere for a few moments.
Mullingar came to this table-topping clash like a team possessed, and tore
into their main rivals like a hungry lioness would a limping wildebeest. 
Though one to 22 took their turn at the carcass, newcomer Sarah Crosby stood out as the latest in a fine line of back row velociraptors, and she
did more tidying up than the entire housekeeping department at Buckingham
Palace.
The Miller-bred intensity was evident as soon as they crossed the
whitewash, and the Tullow women were early with their nervous glances.
With her pack rampant in front of her, it took skipper Niamh Kennedy all of
five minutes to unlock the first score. 
With a quick change of direction on the halfway line she dinked a kick wide
to the left with supreme faith in her pacy winger Olive Butler.
The club’s top try-scorer did not disappoint. She gambled Bowe-like on the
bounce and was rewarded with a 40-metre gallop of triumph for the opening
try.
Mullingar began picking holes, and kept Tullow to the pins of their collars.
This pressure led to a kickable penalty in the 19th minute, and though
Crilly missed it, she more than made up for it only a minute later.
After Jenni Gibson nipped a rare Tullow attack in the bud on the right
touchline and returned possession to Mullingar, Crilly again backed her
outside speedsters with a canny kick ahead into empty acres behind the
Tullow line.
This time the zip belonged to fullback Ellen Tait who got a toe on the ball
and won the foot race to dive bravely on her fourth try of the season as
her opposite number did her best to decapitate her with a knee.
Unblinking, and with her fair head still on her shoulders, Tait dusted
herself off and slotted the subsequent conversion for a deserved 12-0 lead.
Mullingar were now rampant, and Miller wore his satisfied smile. 
In the 35th minute this pressure led to a Mullingar penalty on halfway,
which Crilly dutifully put to the line in the Tullow 22.
Adrienne Andrews went top of the hoist, and landed in the midst of a pack
that knew exactly what they were doing. 
Inexorably they rumbled on to the Tullow line and the outstanding Crosby was rewarded for her afternoon’s industry with her side’s third try, and a
scarcely believeable 17-0 halftime lead.
Tullow came out with an improved intensity, but the Mullingar defence
through Claire O’Brien, and the midfield murder mob of Kelly and Gibson
meant just frustration for the visitors.
With 20 minutes gone, Miller brought on Sylvia Rhattigan to shore up the
pack, and in doing so he knew. 
The bench was then emptied to give breathers to the troops, and try as they
might, Tullow had to concede not just the game at the final whistle, but
top spot in the league, and favouritism for AIL. 
Team: 1. Aoife Bagnall, 2. Adrienne Andrews, 3. Tracey Talbot, 4. Claire
O’Brien, 5. Julie Dunne, 6. Sarah Crosby, 7. Katie Layde, 8.Clodagh
Cleary, 9. Sinead Holmes, 10. Niamh ‘Crilly’ Kennedy, 11. Gemma Egan, 12.
Jenny Gibson, 13. Louise Kelly, 14. Olive Butler, 15. Ellen Tait. Subs
used: Sylvia Rattigan, Teenie Burke, Aoife Hynes, Nicola Rowntree, Gillian
Kelly, Claire Farrelly.
Tries: Crosbie, Butler, Tait.