Cooke Women powered to a 41 – 12 win against Tullamore in the semi final of the All Ireland Plate on Saturday evening at Shaws Bridge.
Cooke got off to the best of starts with Eliza Downey crossing out wide to open the scoring. Further tries followed from Naomi McCullagh and Delores Hughes, all converted by Amanda Morton to give the home team a 21 – 0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Tullamore looked for a response and they found it when a few driving runs through midfield ended with Sinead Rigney touching down for a try, converted by Emma Kelly. The teams then swapped scores with Teah Maguire scoring for Cooke before Ciara Farrell added a second for the visitors, the sides turning round with Cooke defending a 26 – 12 lead.
The visitors enjoyed substantial periods of possession in the second half but they were unable to break down the Cooke defence. The home side sealed the game with Downey and Maguire each crossing for the second time before Beth Cregan sneaked over in the corner to wrap up the game.
Final score: Cooke 41 Tullamore 12
Cooke will face Blackrock College in the Plate final in the Energia Women’s All-Ireland Cup Finals Day which takes place on Saturday March 21st, 2020 at a venue to be decided.
