Clovers 41-19 Glasgow Warriors

Clovers took victory in round seven of the Celtic Challenge this afternoon, taking a 41-19 win over Glasgow Warriors in Cork.

The Warriors started well, and with a minute of game time gone Jane Neill conceded a penalty for collapsing, giving the advantage to Warriors. McNamara kicked to gain some distance and instantly Warriors were on the attack. Unfortunately this was followed by a knock on by the Glasgow side which gave Clovers the turn over and the chance for the home side to retaliate.

Within minutes, it was obvious that this was going to be a very physical game, Clovers were now the ones to knock on the ball giving Glasgow the advantage. After a successful scrum, McNamara kicked up the field to clear the play from their half and relieve some pressure. However, the home side replied by going into a back and forth of kicks between both teams.

After recovering possession, Enya Breen was quick to open the play wide for Meabh Deely, who then offloaded it to winger Anna McGann who crossed the Glasgow try-line and open up the scoreboard for Clovers. The conversion was unsuccessful by Nicole Fowley, giving the hosts only five points.

Following the restart and after a kick from the Clover’s side, Amee Leigh Costigan sped up the field and managed to catch the loose ball up in the air, allowing her to beat the defenders to the try line. Fowley added the conversion points this time.

Fifteen minutes in and Glasgow were forced to make changes after Sky Phimister seemed to have picked up an injury post tackle, which forced her to leave the field and be replaced by vice captain Ceitidh Ainsworth.

Clovers were exploiting their kicking game to try keep the Warriors attacks from progressing into their side of the field and trying to opening spaces on the wings.

The Irish were trying to take advantage of their possession to look at the narrow space to breakthrough the defence line, however Ainsworth turned it over and Jane Neill committed a foul on Ainsworth giving Warriors the penalty advantage. McNamara once again kicked to open distance into the hosts’ half. Nonetheless, Clovers managed to come back in attack and attempt a third try. However the ball was held up by Warriors.

Another restart from Warriors, kicking just out their half, which was taken by Clovers. In the fight to steal the ball, a penalty was awarded to Glasgow for not rolling away giving the hosts the possession for the line-out. A successful catch and a straight driven scrum put them at five metres of the try-line, finishing it off with a pass to Emily Lane who squeezed her way pass the Glasgow defenders. Conversion was successful by Fowley.

Glasgow then had a second replacement for injury, Aisha Zameer was off the field and was replaced by Kate Yeomans. Post replacement, Glasgow won the scrum, Mairi McDonald moved the ball to the wing for Abi Evans to clear it away. Minutes after coming on the field Yeomans gets a yellow card for high tackle on Emily Lane, both going in for the ball but the height difference had an impact.

Clovers got their bonus point try by the hands of Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, who after pressuring into the right wing line of Warriors, just about managed to place the ball over the line. Conversion was unsuccessful by Fowley

The Irish took advantage of Glasgow being one player down and Anna McGann caught the Glasgow defence by surprise with a run and an offload to Amee Leigh Costigan allowing her to score her second try of the afternoon. This was followed by another successful conversion by Fowley.

Just before half time Warriors found a burst of confidence following a few great plays and Clovers mistakes. In her very complete performance today, McNamara, managed to break the Clovers defence line which allowed Ainsworth to quickly move the ball to the sidelines, where her teammates were ready in position. The numbers were in favour for Glasgow as they worked the overlap, and no one was there to stop Roma Fraser crossing the line on the wing.

It was not possible this time to add the full seven points as the conversion was unsuccessful by McNamara.

Back from the break it was once again, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird who opened up the scoreboard for the home side, pushing her way past the posts for her second try of the day. Conversion was unsuccessful by Fowley

Kate Lindsey came on for Glasgow at the start of the second half looking to make a difference in the Warriors game, looking to throw Clovers off their game. The loose head prop, Ailie Tucker was another great performance in today’s match, showing skills and leadership as she captained this Warriors team. Tucker cleared Saoirse Crowe’s attack on Ainsworth which then led to Mairi McDonald realising Briar McNamara once again towards the in-goal area, however a knock on ended her run.

Clovers gave another penalty away, Glasgow won their scrum and instantly took advantage of that to convert the opportunity and get their second try of the afternoon. Holland Bogan, was the one to push her way past the try line to add five more points onto the Warriors scoreboard. The extra two points from the conversion were then added by McNamara.

The Irish side had a few minutes were they almost looked shocked by the dynamic Glasgow were showing, causing them to give away multiple penalties on this half of the match. Clovers force an error from the Scottish team and gain possession for the lineout. A connection between Anna McGann and Amee Leigh Costigan gets the latter one her hat trick this afternoon, she found a space on the sidelines to run over the Warriors in-goal. Conversion unsuccessful for Clovers in this occasion.

Ten minutes left of the game and Glasgow were still giving it all, and by consequence of this the third try happened for them. After playing a key part, not only in both of the previous tries but the whole match, McNamara was the one to cross the line after breaking away from the opposition. McNamara also converted her own try for those extra two points.

One last play, one last Clovers’ scrum which was won by the hosts as Glasgow conceded a driving away penalty. Grace Brown Moran kicked to gain territory and Clovers had the line out. Glasgow managed to turn it over and attacked for one last time but a forwards pass put an end to that play and to this afternoon’s match. After an action packed afternoon, the result in Cork ended up being :

Clovers 41- 19 Glasgow Warriors.

Post match thoughts from Glasgow Warriors’ head coach Lindsey Smith, were the following:

“ We did not show our best game in the first half, the wind was against us and we just did not have much possession. However, in the second half we really turned it around. Scoring just before half time gave us a push and shifted the mindset of the squad.

We definitely performed really well in that second half in our set piece, scrum and lineouts provided us a solid platform to attack, this was one of our really positives from today. Out of our work ons from today the key one is probably build those phases and turn this type of performance into an 80 minutes one, which is something we need to fix for next week’s fixture”