The Front Row Union Sport - Women’s AIL Week 16 Preview. Final

Women’s AIL Week 16 Preview. Final

Apr 21, 2018

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It’s the final week of the Women’s All Ireland competitions with UL Bohemian meeting Old Belvedere in the League Championship Final for the third successive year. Despite strong lobbying from The FRU to have the game played at Larne RFC, so I could get home in time for the Ulster Glasgow match, the IRFU have decided to play the game at Portlaoise RFC 🙄 with the match kicking off at 13:00 this afternoon.

[pullquote]The venue will also feature the AIL Promotion Playoff between, our new friends, St Mary’s and Tralee. Kick off 12:30.[/pullquote]

The Limerick outfit have been pretty much unbeatable all season completing their regular league campaign with only one loss to their name. They followed that up with a comprehensive 58 – 8 win against a depleted Cooke in their Semi Final and they would be favourites to wrap up the league today.

However, their solitary defeat was at the hands of today’s opponents and it could be argued that Old Belvedere are the form team going into this game following their 7 – 10 win against the formidable Railway Union in their Semi Final last weekend. Belvo have certainly had the better work out in their build up and with Nora Stapleton pulling the strings they can never be discounted.

The old adage, “This one could go either way”, holds true for this game but our regular readers know we don’t like to sit on the fence so the “Curse of the FRU” is going to go to UL Bohemian who I expect to win and win reasonably comfortably. Mind you the way our predictions have been going, Belvo can start and make some room in their trophy cabinet 😈 😆 !

Either way, I expect it to be a cracker.

UL BOHEMIAN: Anna Caplice, Hayley Betts, Tara McCarthy, Fiona Hayes (c), Gillian Bourke, Fiona Reidy, Sara Hartigan, Aoife O’Sullivan, Edel Murphy, Sorcha Holohan, Chloe Pearse, Ciara Griffin, Clodagh O’Halloran, Stephanie Nunan, Syphonia Pua, Rachel Allen, Mairead Kelly, Aine Staunton, Niamh Kavanagh, Laura O’Mahony, Helen McDermott, Laura Sheehan, Claire Keohane, Niamh Briggs, Nicole Cronin.

OLD BELVEDERE: Maria Kenny, Ailbhe Dowling, Elise O’Byrne White, Sene Naoupu, Gemma Matthews, Nora Stapleton, Kathryn Dane, Linda Djougang, Stephanie Barman, Fiona O’Brien (c), Oonagh Hynes, Roisin O’Donnell, Lesley Ring, Franziska Klappoth, Sharon Lynch, Jennie Finlay, Grace McCormack, Jan Carroll, Sophie Spence, Ellen Murphy, Aine Donnelly, Alex White.

Nora Stapleton