Nenagh/Shannon Ladies12-0 St. Senan’s
UBL Division 2A
Nenagh Ormond 31-15 Malone
Nenagh Ormond Senior XV welcomed Malone to New Ormond Park on Saturday last. When the two sides met in November Malone were runaway winners and, although they have had mixed form of late, Nenagh knew they would need to work hard for a much needed win.
After ten minutes of play, Nenagh found themselves in a good attacking position with a lineout just outside the opposition 22. After a couple of forward carries, the ball came out to the backs and although outhalfKolioHifo had no gap in front of him he burst through the defence and offloaded to Derek Corcoran for Nenagh’s first try. Michael Walsh converted. A few minutes later, Malone won a kickable penalty when Nenagh failed to roll away and fullback Rory Campbell stepped up to put Malone on the scoreboard with a penalty kick
Nenagh’s pack were dominant in the scrum and when untidy possession forced Malone to run from just outside their own 22 a pass went astray and into touch giving Nenagh a lineout 25 metres out. O’Connor quickly threw the ball in to Kevin O’Flaherty at the front and, seeing that Malone were slow to react, O’Flaherty galloped to the try line and touched down to the right of the posts. Walsh kicked the conversion to leave the score at 14-3 after 21 minutes.
Ten minutes later Nenagh winger EathonMoloney broke to inside the Malone 10 metre line. LemekiVaipulu came flying onto Mike Fogarty’s pass from the base of the ruck and passed to Hifo who showed quick hands to get the ball to O’Flaherty to score out wide for his second and Nenagh’s third try. Just before half time Nenagh scored again when, after a scrum in Malone’s 22, Derek Corcoran skip passed to EathonMoloney whose excellent finishing gave Nenagh their bonus point try and a 24-3 lead at half time.
The second half saw Nenagh down to 14 men for over 20 minutes and Malone scored tries in both periods, either side of Nenagh’s fifth try of the game which came from a stolen lineout on the Malone 10 metre line. Corcoran broke into Malone’s 22 and then Michael Walsh fooled the defender with a super inside step before offloading to Hifo to score. Walsh converted.
This bonus point win puts Nenagh in 6th place on the table and within touching distance of the teams above them. They take a break from AIL this weekend when they are at home to Dolphin in the Munster Senior Cup at 2.30pm on Saturday.
Nenagh Ormond Team:
Michael Walsh, John Long, Derek Corcoran, Willie O’Connor, EathonMoloney, KolioHifo, Mike Fogarty, John Hayes, Peter O’Connor, Fergal Brislane, Kevin O’Gorman, Kevin O’Flaherty, Michael Slattery, Anthony Grey, LemekiVaipulu.
Replacements: Conor Brislane, Aidan Doyle, John O’Flaherty, Anthony Kavanagh, Peter O’Leary.
Nenagh/Shannon Ladies12-0 St. Senan’s
Nenagh/Shannon Ladies were at home to St. Senan’s on Sunday last and the fixture was played at Shannon’s ground in Coonagh. A heavy downpour just before the match ensured that conditions were slippery and the swirling wind made things difficult for both teams. Senan’s had the territorial advantage in the opening exchanges but when Nenagh got possession they used the wind well to gain ground and once inside the Senan’s half they stayed there for the remainder of the half.
With conditions making errors common, it was in the last ten minutes when the first score came. Nenagh’s pack had dominated the scrum and the maul was excellent and they made no mistake when they got a lineout ten metres out. Their first maul was brought to ground and they kicked to touch and set up again, mauling to within inches of the line before the ball came out to Helena Hanrahan. Hanrahan showed quick hands to transfer the ball to blindside flanker Katie McCluskey who powered over for the try. Outhalf Sarah Cullinan slotted the tricky conversion to leave the half time score at 7-0 to Nenagh/Shannon.
St. Senan’s came out all guns blazing in the second half and launched attack after attack, moving the ball wide to their dangerous backs at every opportunity. However, they were well marshalled by the Nenagh backline led by centres Valerie Power and Sandra Williams and in the pack the outstanding backrow of McCluskey, Karen Harney and Kate McCarthy were always on hand to end any hope of a Senan’s score.
Just at the start of the final quarter, Nenagh set up another maul from a lineout on the Senan’s 10 metre line which brought them to just outside the 22. Nicolette Finn peeled off and made good ground before Rebecca O’Shea passed the ball to the backs. It went through the hands and out to Therese Nolan on the wing who still had work to do but danced around the defenders to score out wide.
This was a great win for the girls against a well drilled team. From 1-15 every player worked hard and none more so than player of the match, Number 8 Karen Harney. The two teams have gelled together extremely well in a short period of time and they will be hoping to build on this win in the coming weeks.
New players are always welcome at Nenagh Ladies. No previous experience is necessary so if you want to get fit for the new year in a friendly team atmosphere call June on 086 3827180 or Therese on 087 9532562 for more information.
Under 16s 20-8 Kilorglin
Nenagh Ormond Under16s continued their Pan Munster campaign on Sunday morning with a match against Killorglin RFC in Lisatunny. Killorglin took the game to Nenagh for the first 10 minutes getting very close to Nenagh’s try line but Nenagh’s defence held tough and withstood the pressure. We managed to turnover Killorglin on a couple of occasions and Conor O’Brien put in some great kicks to touch to relieve the pressure.
Our forwards started to gain parity and then began to get on top of their counterparts and this dominance as the half wore on gave some great ball for our backline to work with. We finally managed to gain a foothold in Killorglin territory and forced a penalty in front of the posts which Conor O’Brien tapped over for a 3-0 lead. Within minutes the lead was stretched to 10-0 when a great counter attack by Eamon Hough put Darragh Flannery into space and he showed great speed to touch down on the left, Conor adding the difficult conversion.
This lead was stretched to 15-0 when a great training ground move off a scrum led to Ronan Kelly getting in on the right wing, Conor’s fine effort at the extras fell just short. On the stroke of halftime Killorglin got on the scoresheet with a penalty from in front of the posts leaving the halftime score 15-3 with Killorglin having the strengthening wind in the second half.
Nenagh continued to dominate and after a fine counter attack by Conor O’Brien he chipped ahead and was taken out late. Nenagh kicked the resulting penalty to the corner and Jack Dunne found Jack O’Keefe with his throw. The maul was formed and Nenagh powered over with Jack Dunne getting the touchdown. The difficult kick was missed by Conor but we now had a significant 20-3 lead.
In fairness to Killorglin they never gave in and caused Nenagh plenty of problems for the remainder of the game. Some great last ditch tackles on our try line by both backs and forwards looked like keeping our try line unbroken on the day but with the last play of the game Killorglin’s efforts were finally rewarded with a try leaving the final score 20-8.
Our next match is away to Waterpark on the weekend of January 30/31. Details will be available at training during the week.
Team: Michael Bourke, Jack Dunne, Michael Kennedy, John Spillane, Stephen Harding, Jack O’Keefe, Orrin Moore, Evan Murphy, Nathan Deely-O’Meara, Ben Duff, Eamon Hough, Darragh Flannery, Jack Moran, Ronan Kelly, Conor O’Brien, Alex Hayes, Luke Connolly, Sam West, Daniel Molamphy, Eddie O’Dwyer.
Under 15s 5-27 Galbally
Not for the first time this season Nenagh’s juvenile rugby club fielded teams at U13, U14, U15, U16 and U18 at the same time. With a number of late withdrawals due to illness our Under 15s took to the field with the bare 15 players in this North Munster League fixture against Galbally. This was a real David versus Goliath affair as Galbally were a physically much bigger side. Unfortunately for Nenagh the result didn’t go the same way as that Old Testament encounter.
The Nenagh boys couldn’t be faulted for their efforts and stood up manfully to their task for the full hour. Up front we even managed to dominate the scrums despite conceding such a huge height and weight advantage. This shows the technical skills the boys have developed are paying dividends. Out wide when we had the ball we threatened regularly with some great running by Conor McMahon and Sean Hayes. One of these fine back line moves put Sean into space and he showed his blistering speed by outpacing the defence to score a fine try.
However the bigger Galbally side held most of the territory and possession and their pick and go tactics yielded a plentiful dividend and was the source of the bulk of their scores. A disappointing result but still an outstanding effort against the odds by all 15 boys that played.
Our next match is at home to Presentation next Sunday where we should have our full complement of players available. Training continues at 7pm on Tuesday and Friday nights.
Team: Oisin Larkin, James Ferris, Sean Hayes, Conor McMahon, Kevin Harding, Owen Farrell, Peter Rainsford, Danny O’Connor, Dylan Knight, Luke Connolly (capt), EoghanSlevin, RuanO’Hanluain, Michael Courtney-Bowler, Patrick Finn, Kian O’Kelly.
Clonmel 14-10 Under 14s
East Munster U14 Cup First Round
Following last Saturday night’s closely fought epic encounter under lights and driving rain in Thurles I’m sure neither side were expecting to have to do it all again so soon. Clonmel had home advantage this time yet it was Nenagh who carried the game to them from the outset. Sterling work from the forwards in the loose repelled any attempt by Clonmel to get a foothold in the game and at every opportunity Dylan Murphy, Cathal Ryan, James Meagher and David O’Sullivan really tore into the opposition with gusto and this gave us plenty of go-forward ball. They were ably backed up by Cathal Delaney, Sean Richardson, Jack Deane and Shane Whelan who ensured that Clonmel stayed on the backfoot for large parts of the first half. The half backs Eoin O’Meara and Hugh Guest linked well between the pack and the backs and we continued to up the ante with direct running and quick recycling. We may have been lacking the excitement levels of last weekend, but we certainly didn’t lack for intensity, courage and bravery which were, if anything, ratcheted up another couple of notches from Saturday night. Proof again of how little there is between the two sides: the scoreline was still nil-all with twenty minutes gone.
Making good progress inside the opposition’s twenty-two, we were pressing hard to find an opening that would unlock the massed Clonmel defence. An attempted off-load was snaffled by the opposition who put the ball through the hands wide out to their winger and just like last weekend he was on his bike. A try under the posts was duly converted and suddenly all our good work was undone. 7-0 to Clonmel.
However, we should know at this stage never to doubt this young Ormond side’s character and resolve. After great work in loose from all our forwards out on the right-hand side, it was Cathal Ryan who, like a man possessed, drove hard towards the line from just inside the opposition’s twenty-two. This caused mayhem in the Clonmel defensive line and it is no exaggeration to say it took at least four or five Clonmel players to bring him down. David O’Sullivan then threw himself at more Clonmel defenders as he picked and drove forward. He was brought down metres short of the line but before the defence could reorganise properly and set up a ruck, Dylan Murphy was in the right place at the right time. He took the ball on and again he couldn’t be stopped as he dived through a gap in the scrambling defence to touch down for our first try. From out near the touchline, captain Hugh Guest’s attempted conversion just came up short: Clonmel led 7-5 at half-time and we sent on our replacements: Daniel Quigley in the front row, Anthony O’Donovan at scrum-half and Danny Wilkinson in the 2nd row.
Clonmel managed to get in for another converted try before we settled to the task in the second-half. Despite being down by nine points we stuck to our game. Joe Cooney and Ruari Moylan in the centre were hungry for work and although Clonmel now had the strong breeze at their backs their tactic of kicking long was counteracted well by good defensive positioning from James Duff at full-back and both Luke Gleeson and Aaron Ryan on the wings ran the ball back several times and prevented Clonmel from establishing an attacking platform in our half.
Despite a couple of attempts being repelled by desperate defence from Clonmel we finally found a way through again. Unrelenting hard work across the park from the whole team - now benefitting from the fresh legs of Quigley and Wilkinson and being driven forward by Anthony O’Donovan at scrum-half - saw Dylan Murphy power through the Clonmel defence to ensure there was no doubt about the grounding. Unfortunately the stiff breeze made the conversion attempt too difficult but we were now trailing by only four points with about five minutes to go. We sensed that Clonmel were there for the taking and we mounted one last gallant attempt to steal the victory at the death but in the final play as we advanced on the Clonmel line after another great surge from O’Sullivan we just ran out of space and the ball was carried into touch. From the lineout Clonmel were awarded a penalty and they kicked to touch to bring proceedings to a close. Another case of so close but still so far.
Just like last weekend, the game finished without, to my knowledge at least, a single word of dispute or argument cast by any member of either team in the opposite direction. Once again there was certainly no shame in defeat as every player gave their all. Full attendance at training is a must from here on as we try to work on improving our game as we attempt to win all our remaining pool games and reach the semi-final. Next weekend we host Fethard in our second match of the Cup competition. Training as usual on Wed and Fri night in preparation for another huge game.
Under 13s 24-12 Richmond
Nenagh Ormond Under 13s began the second phase of the North Munster League on Sunday in Tyone against Richmond with a hard fought 24-12 victory. We are now in the conference section and will also meet St. Senan's and Thomond in this phase.
We got off to a great start and put Richmond under all sorts of pressure from the kick off and when they eventually cleared to touch on their 22 the Nenagh lads weren't about to leave without a score. The lineout was won and the ball worked to Josh Delaney who powered over under the posts. Paul Seymour added the conversion.
From the kick off Nenagh gathered and after the forwards drove towards half way nice hands by the backs released Paul Seymour on the right and he looked likely to run all the way but passed to the supporting PadraicHassett ten metres out and he was tackled over the line and held up by a covering defender. A great example of never giving up in defence.
The next ten minutes saw Nenagh give away a lot of penalties and give Richmond a foot hold in the game but we survived and eventually some nice work by the forwards gave the backs good go forward ball. A slick bit of handling put Paul free on the left this time and he showed great speed make it over in the corner. Soon after James Finn intercepted deep in our own half to score beside the posts. The conversion was added and it was 19-0 at half time.
A mistake by Nenagh at the start of the second half allowed Richmond get over for a converted try and this led to us being under pressure for a lot of the second half with the play being very scrappy. One good move saw DJ McGrath score a well taken try and very near the end Richmond got a consolation try after a mix up behind our own line.
All in all it was good to get a win but we know we can play better and with hard work in training every week we can press for honours later in the season. Thanks to Willie for providing refreshments to both teams after the match and to Tommy Moylan for a job well done refereeing.
Mini Blitz
Minis (with exception of U11) have an away blitz in Clanwilliam RFC, Tipperary Town this Sunday. Fermoy RFC will also take part in the blitz.
Departure at 9am on Sunday from DunnesStores car park (car pooling).
Outstanding registrations for players, please contact coaches.
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