Round Four – Celtic Challenge
Scotstoun
Clovers struck at once. A dominant scrum followed by strong drives gave Kate Flannery the time and space to hoist a pinpoint cross-kick into the hands of Clare Gorman on the left wing; an inside pass sent Méabh Deely over the line.
Clovers looked a good deal sharper, getting all too easily across the gain-line.
Their second try fell to Dorothy Wall direct from a line-out. Warrior’s defences were being too easily breached; long Irish advances came from first possession.
A neat short throw-in gave Clovers a third try on 24 minutes. A quick give-and-take saw Beth Buttimer over the line. 0-17
The skipper Wall and Flannery were especially prominent.
As so often happens to sides under pressure, Warriors hindered themselves by giving away penalties.
Right on the half-hour Clovers gained their bonus point; No 8, Ivana Kiripati, fought off several tackles to post a fourth try. 0-22
A fifth came as Wall drove straight through the middle of a maul to touch down. 0-24
Warriors at last found a scoring pass as Izzy Hannay was on hand to receive and go over. At this stage time it was Clovers who were building up a sequence of penalties.
Half-time: 5-24
An astonishing passage of play saw Clovers advance with pace and lightning quick off-loads. As Ailsa Hughes was grounded a metre short, she popped a pass to Niamh O’Dowd who found herself falling over the line but, unfortunately for her, on to two prostrate Warriors players; no try.
At once Warriors undid this good defensive work. A goal-line drop-out went straight into touch. ‘5-metre scrum, please.’
A sequence of scrum-penaty-scrum-penalty had to lead to another score; try Brianna Heylmann. Warriors had some recompense when a secure scrum gave Beth Blacklock another chance to show her worth; she fended off a numbrer of tackles to cross for a second Scottish try.
But it was far from enough.
Result: 10-29
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Carla McDonald; 14 Sky Phimister, 13 Lucy MacRae, 12 Beth Blacklock, 11 Phaedra Snailham; 10 Ceitidh Ainsworth, 9 Mairi McDonald, 1 Ailie Tucker, 2 Nikki Simpson, 3 Eilidh Fleming, 4 Eve Thomson, 5 Emma Turner (co-captain), 6 Holland Bogan, 7 Izzy Hannay, 8 Lucy Winter.
Bench: 16 Karis Craig, 17 Demi Swann, 18 Chloe Brown, 19 Ellie Williamson, 20 Megan Hyland, 21 Rhea Clarke (co-captain), 22 Giselle Chicot, 23 Roma Fraser
Clovers: 15. Méabh Deely, 14. Clare Gorman, 13. Aoife Corey, 12. Kayla Waldron, 11. Alana McInerney, 10. Kate Flannery, 9. Abbie Salter-Townshend, 1. Niamh O’Dowd, 2. Beth Buttimer, 3. Sadhbh McGrath, 4. Faith Oviawe, 5. Dorothy Wall (captain), 6. Jane Clohessy, 7. Edel McMahon, 8. Ivana Kiripati
Bench: 16. Lily Brady, 17. Róisín Ormond, 18. Grainne Burke, 19. Brianna Heylmann, 20. Shannon Touhey, 21. Ailsa Hughes, 22. Michelle O’Driscoll, 23. Chisom Ugwuere
Result: Glasgow Warriors 10 Clovers 29
This was another game to cast doubts on Scottish progress. The addition of Beth Blacklock to the squad certainly helped the cause, but overall the team showed considerably less cohesion and know-how than their opponents. Their coach, Chris Laidlaw, will be pleased by the way they stuck to their task, and this sequence of games can only enhance their standing, but a string of losses and not a single bonus point tell their own sad tale from Scotland’s largest city.
