Railway Union retain AIL title in absorbing final

Blackrock 18-24 Railway Union

Eve Higgins delivered a player-of-the-match performance and her Ireland colleague Ailsa Hughes snapped up a brace of tries as Railway Union defeated Blackrock to retain Energia All-Ireland League Women's Division Trophy.

A breathless first half finished 14-8 in Railway’s favour, Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Hughes both touching down with Blackrock’s Hannah O’Connor replying off the back of a scrum.

The defending champions coped well during Katie Heffernan’s sin-binning, Nikki Caughey clipping over a penalty in response to two Meabh Deely kicks.

Into the final quarter, Hughes and Emma Hooban traded tries – Deely added an excellent conversion to restore the six-point gap – but Railway stood firm despite a yellow card for tighthead Katie O’Dwyer as the Sandymount club won just their second ever league crown.