Rugby Double for Ard Scoil Mhuire in May!

Ardscoil Mhuire Junior and Senior rugby teams had a momentous achievement in the Sportsground in Galway recently, when both teams won the finals of the Inaugural Connacht Girls Schools’ Rugby League. The display of rugby talent from our teams over the course of the league and in particular at the finals was simply outstanding. The school’s junior rugby team started out the league in February with victories against Sacred Heart Secondary School, in Westport and Scoil Mhuire, Roscommon, on scorelines of 35 – 20 and 24 -5 respectively.

The juniors then progressed on to face Gortnor Abbey in the final, where they emerged victorious with a score of 25-0, with outstanding displays from the captain Emma Mitchell and the entire team. Emma said: “It was a great honour to be captain of the victorious Ardscoil Mhuire Junior rugby team in the first year of the competition. We defeated Gortnor Abbey in a hard fought final, ending in a score line of 25-0. And I can’t wait for our school to be the first name on the cup. It was great to see all the hard work the team put in all year pay off in the end”.

The victorious junior team members are: Captain: Emma Mitchell, Vice-captain: Aoife Keighery, Blathnaid Kelly, Ciara Lohan, Emma McGreal, Lauren Ruane, Mia Walsh, Niamh Keighery, Sarah Russell, Aoife Burnell, Emma Keane, Mia Costello, Ruth Manning, Shauna Mitchell, Ella Greene, Niamh Kerr, Alida Cleary, Rebecca McGuirk and Aimee Egan.

Ardscoil’s senior rugby team started out the league before their junior counterparts, when they beat Gallen Community School in January on a scoreline of 17 points to nil. From there they faced Sacred Heart, Westport where they had the only loss of their campaign, losing 25-17 to the Mayo school. They went on to beat Scoil Mhuire, Roscommon c o m p r e h e n s i v e l y , finishing up 60-0. It was in the final at the Sportsground, that the local school met the team that had handed them their only defeat of the season, Scared Heart, Westport. However, they emerged victorious, beating them 41-29. Commenting on the victory, captain Meabh Deely said: “I think for a team that came from so many different year groups, we really clicked together in the final to produce a winning performance”.

The team members of the Senior side are: Captain: Meabh Deely, Vice-captain: Hannah Gullane, Beibhinn Parsons, Rebecca Galvin, Emily Gavin, Aoibheann Reilly, Leona Larkin, Shauna Finneran, Niamh Kenny, Hannah Flynn, Joann Curley, Rachel Larkin, Martha Freehill, Orlaith Brennan, Avril Deely, Clodagh Powell, Roisin Fahy, Sarah Lyons, Leah Hogarty.

​These victories could not have been attained without the dedicated management team of coaches, comprised of Dermot Tierney, Ann Conlon, Angela Flaherty, Gearoid Finneran and Natasha Walsh Sheppard, as well as all in Ballinasloe Rugby Club.