Young Munster’s Womens Sevens Blitz

12th May 2008 By Munster Rugby

On Saturday, April 26th, the first ever Young Munster Women’s 7’s rugby blitz took place at Tom Clifford Park, Greenfields. Although the morning had started out a bit damp this gave way to beautiful sunshine which helped make the day a roaring success.

Six teams participated: Galbally, Tralee, Clanwilliam, Kinsale and 2 from Young Munster dubbed ‘The Premiere’ Young Munster and ‘The Real’ Young Munster. The pool stages of the competition saw all six teams play each other with only a ten minute break between games. Incidentally, the game between the two Young Munster teams proved to be one of the most competitive and entertaining of the day with no quarter being given by either side. ‘The Real’ Young Munster, led by Mary O’ Callaghan, claimed victory by the slimmest of margins, 1 – 0.

That all teams were still raring to go after the pool stages bears testament to their fitness levels at the end of the season. Special mention must be made of Clanwilliam who, following a series of unfortunate events before they had even arrived, found themselves with no substitutes. They had to rely on the indomitable spirit of their coach, Cecille Mulcahy, who togged out, and the generosity of the other teams in donating a player for each game. This set the tone of the competition which was sporting throughout and a credit to all involved.

After the pool stages the points were tallied and the four teams on top contested the semi-finals. These were Tralee, Clanwilliam, Kinsale and ‘The Real’ Young Munster with the latter two separated only by try difference. The semi-finals saw Tralee take on ‘The Real’ Young Munster and Clanwilliam take on Kinsale. Tralee emerged victorious in the first semi on a scoreline of 3 tries to 1. Kinsale beat Clanwilliam by 6 tries to 2 in the second semi-final.

The final was then contested by Tralee and Kinsale. This was a hard fought battle with Tralee, led by their captain, Trish Fitzpatrick, sealing victory by 3 tries to 1. We all retired to the clubhouse then for a well-earned meal provided, on behalf of Young Munster, by Ger ‘Mousey’ Hannon, ably assisted by Frank Corr and Ann Marie Galvin. The cup and medals were presented to the winning team, Tralee, and the runners-up, Kinsale, by club President, John Galvin. A special award was made to the player judged to be ‘most valuable’ by her peers, Amy Guerin of Galbally.

The Young Munster Women’s Rugby Committee would like to express our sincere thanks to Mike Hastings of Scoop Distributors for sponsoring the trophies and Ballygowan for providing the teams with water. We also wish to thank the referees, Gerry Clifford, Keith Moore and Ciaran Kelleher for the good-humoured and professional manner in which they managed the games. Our thanks to all at Young Munster for the encouragement and practical support received.

Patricia Montgomery