In an entertaining friendly, Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) Women were on the wrong end of a narrow defeat against a visiting Princeton side in College Park last night.
Princeton began the game with possession, but were met by a strong defensive wall by Trinity. Their defensive efforts were rewarded with a turnover from which they wasted no time in spreading the ball out wide to Elvira Giuomard who touched down for the first score of the game.
Trinity pushed on from this with more pressure leading to a line break from Molly Boyne who was stopped short of the line by a fantastic tap tackle. Trinity barraged the Princeton line with prop Kerry Ryan eventually breaching the defensive to storm into a 12-0 lead.
A turning point came on 15 minutes when Princeton scored their first try of the game. Trinity’s attack became muddled as they searched for Princeton’s line and the ball popped loose to the impressive outhalf Jess Lu who ran the length of the pitch to reduce the arrears to 12-7.
The remainder of the first half was fought at close quarters in the centre of the field before a series of penalties gave Princeton good field position which they made pay as their pack rumbled over to take a narrow 14-12 lead. Trinity’s advantage had vanished and their heads dropped as Lu ran in her second try of the night directly from the kick-off to make it 21-12 at half time.
Princeton refused to take their foot off the pedal as the second half as Lu completed her hat-trick by piercing Trinity’s backline and sneaking into the corner. Moments later, Trinity looked dead and buried as yet another breakaway try was converted, leaving them 33-12 in Princeton’s wake.
With nothing to lose, Trinity began to play their best rugby of the evening, building multi-phase attacks in Princeton’s 22 which eventually saw Grace Quinlivan crash over from a quick tap penalty. Trinity’s strength lay in the pack and they continued to keep it tight, starving Princeton of possession. Two quick-fire tries from Jane Leahy and Claudia Alonso made the impossible look likely with the score at 33-29 going into the final 10 minutes.
The electric pace of the game showed no signs of wilting as the relentless scoring continued as Princeton’s Coco Wallace crossed the whitewash for her second try of the night. Lu proved to be the ultimate thorn in their side as she finished Trinity off with a remarkable fourth try. With the score at 45-29, Trinity’s Anna Harkin brought the enthralling encounter to an appropriate finish, finding the line to end the game at 45-34.
