A well fought battle between the two provinces took place last Saturday in the Sportsground, when Munster came away with the 22-0 victory. Connacht started out by conceding a penalty in the first four minutes in the game, with Niamh Briggs putting three points on the board for Munster. Within 10 minutes of this score, they also managed to score in the corner, with some poor defence by Connacht. The Connacht side managed to keep the score line of 8-0 up to half time with some great defence work by Clare Molloy, Carol Staunton, Clare Raferty and Allison Miller. Connacht were unlucky not to score a try before half time with severe pressure put on Munster’s defense.
The second half started out with Munster scoring nearly off the whistle, and their backline running some great lines, leaving Connacht scrambling defensively. Connacht never let their heads drop, and the final score did not reflect the effort put in by the girls in green. Some fine performances by Longford players, most notably by Samantha Lulham, and Sharon McKeown, kept Connacht spirit alive up to the final whistle.
Connacht now have their sights set for their clash against Ulster for third place in the Interpro competition, which will be taking place in Donnybrook on November 29.
