By John Crothers
Railway Union 24
Blackrock College 14
With Covid-19 continuing to wreak fixture havoc, this was the only one of the scheduled quarter-finals of the Women’s All Ireland Cup to get the all-clear to proceed last weekend.
The local rivals put their league ambitions on the back-burner temporarily and turned their full attention to the cup, both fielding strong sides for the occasion.
Included for the home side was USA international Tess Feury, making her debut on the right wing.
Railway, playing with a strong wind at their backs, raced to a 17-0 lead by half-time, courtesy of an early brace from fleet-footed centre Aoife Doyle and a powerful finish from Amanda McQuade just before the interval.
Rock were much improved in the second half and reduced the deficit as first Maeve Óg O’Leary and then Caoimhe Molloy crossed to make it a three-point game, Lisa Mullen with both conversions.
The home side were clearly rocked back on their heels but recovered to make the game secure when Katie O’Dwyer broke upfield before offloading to Kate McCarthy who went over for the decisive score.
Railway have earned a home semi-final on March 5 and will be strong favourites to make the final.
The other semi-final will see UL Bohemian entertain Wicklow so a Dublin/Limerick final is very much on the cards.
Blackrock will now contest the semi-final of the All Ireland Plate the same weekend.
Aoife McDermott runs at Blackrock’s Maeve Óg O’Leary during Railway Union’s win. Photos: JC Sports Photography
USA international and new Railway Union signing Tess Feury with Aoife Doyle
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