Connacht Women’s League Final – Preview
Ballyhaunis RFC will, this Saturday, host the final of what has been a tremendous Connacht Women’s League.
League debutantes Castlebar RFC will face Canterbury Warriors RFC, both of which make their first appearance in a league final.
Canterbury Warriors, sponsored by Canterbury, formed by the amalgamation of Carrick on Shannon RFC and Longford RFC women’s teams in August of this year. Both teams had suffered from the departure of a number of players, and it was appropriately decided that an amalgamation was the way forward in order to preserve women’s rugby in the region. The team boasts great experience within its ranks, including former Connacht squad members Yvonne Dowd and Mairead Coy. Although they required a helping hand from NUIG RFC, whose defeat of Tuam RFC sealed the final spot for the Warriors, they can lay claim to being the only team this season to defeat the rampant Castlebar RFC.
The league debutantes marked their entry into competitive rugby with a ferocious bonus-point winning streak this winter. The squad started out from scratch just a little over a year ago and has gone from strength to strength in that short period of time. Numbers have grown exponentially, with a panel of over thirty players at present.
The team, sponsored by “The Castle Inn”, Castlebar, Murrays Ambulance Service, Cuffe Car Sales, Belcarra, and Divas & Stud’s Hair Stylist and Makeup Artist, Claremorris, will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes to when they last faced Nuala McGoey’s charges.
Connacht Women’s League Final:
Saturday, 23rd November, Ballyhaunis RFC. KO: 2pm.
Canterbury Warriors Ladies Panel: Maeve McKeon Christy Cusack John Leneghan
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Castlebar Ladies Panel: Cathy Blake Serena Flynn Linda McManamon Yvonne McNabb Fiona NicRuairi AnneMarie O’Hora Joanne Reilly Management: Ger Prendergast
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