Queen's University had finished as runners-up to Tralee in the 2014 Shield decider, but they broke the deadlock against hosts St. Mary's College today thanks to a routine 10th minute penalty from Jemma Jackson.
This was certainly an encouraging opening for the Belfast girls but with Aoife Thompson, Sarah Duignan and Siobhan Barrett all making an impact for St. Mary's, they knew that they could not afford any lapses in concentration.
Jackson was off-target with her second kick at the posts on 29 minutes. However, just four minutes before the interval, Christina Ramos, a Portuguese Sevens international, broke through underneath the posts for the first try of the game.
Jackson converted with relative ease, giving Queen's a 10-0 interval advantage. It was a case of so far, so good for the visitors and thanks to Ramos' second try two minutes after the restart, they were in pole position to secure the silverware on offer.
Ramos subsequently touched down for a third time 54 minutes in, before St. Mary's flanker Grainne Egan finally broke the Queen's resistance prior to the hour mark.
Although Egan's score did provide some solace for the Templeogue side, Queen's ultimately eased their way to a 22-5 triumph with Ulster squad members Gemma McCutcheon, Jackson and Claire McLaughlin in fine form.