(U12 Girls side after a great blitz in Galbally last Sunday.)
Senior Rugby:Unfortunately all good things eventually come to an end and so it proved for Nenagh Ormond’s unbeaten run in this season’s Energia AIL campaign in Division 2A. As alluded to in these pages last week last Saturday’s game truly was a must win for Cashel who needed to close the gap on Nenagh were they to stay in the chase for automatic promotion at the year’s end. Having gone into the Christmas break on the back of a 9 game unbeaten streak and an 8 point cushion over their South Tipperary rivals, Nenagh's need probably just wasn’t quite as great and it showed in their performance. While Nenagh showed plenty of classy moments to illustrate why they are league leaders again last Saturday, truthfully it was Cashel who were the more cohesive outfit overall in Lisatunny on Saturday and deserving of the four points they took from the fixture. It wasn’t all bad from Nenagh and the losing bonus point gained means they maintain a five point gap over the chasing pack at the head of the division. It is a wake up call though as to how quickly fortunes can change and they now face a tricky assignment away to Greystones next Saturday. The Wicklow team took a hard fought win away to Banbridge last Saturday and anyone who follows this league will know that is no mean feat. The Leinster side will be anxious to distance themselves from what is an increasingly tense struggle at the bottom end of the league to avoid relegation worries so there is plenty of jeopardy around this tie for Nenagh. As the saying goes, “You win or you learn” and no doubt this playing and coaching group will work hard to bounce back immediately and take lessons from this defeat. Kick off on Saturday is at 2.30pm in Dr. Hickey Park, Greystones. All travelling support would be hugely appreciated.
It wasn’t all bad news on the adult rugby front as the Senior Seconds got their new year off to a flier with a comprehensive 38- 5 win over Dolphin in Cork on Sunday afternoon. The team featured a mix of experience and youth with 7 U20.5 players featuring which is a great tribute to the talent being brought through at that level. The U20.5 side have a tough trip to Cork again on Wednesday evening to face UCC in the Donal Walsh Trophy while the Second XV will have their focus firmly on their opening Junior Cup tie coming up on the last weekend of the month so there are multiple challenges on the horizon for the adult players in the club. Well done to all involved for the achievement of fielding teams on so many fronts in quick succession.
U15: Nenagh’s U15 side took on Young Munster in the Pan Munster U16 Plate on a perfect day for rugby last Sunday in UL. Both sides needed a win to keep them in contention for a place in the quarter finals. It took falling 20-0 behind with just over twenty minutes remaining to spark Nenagh into action and they showed what they are capable of in attack by scoring 4 tries but ultimately, they fell just short and lost 27-24. The postponement of last week's match with Carrick on Suir meant it was 5 weeks since Nenagh's last match and they trailed 10-0 at half time after a subdued first half performance. Nenagh were passive in defense and unable to deal with Young Munster’s kicking game which handed the advantage to the opposition allowing them to score two tries in the opening half leaving the score 10-0 at half time. The trend continued in the second half when Munsters scored two more tries to lead 20-0. While the scoreline flattered the Limerick side, Nenagh had to respond and to their credit they did. They managed to hold onto possession for longer and put Munster's defense under pressure. On the halfway line a loose ball was tidied up by Daragh Meehan who managed to recover the ball and carry over the gainline. The ball was recycled to Hugo Healy who danced through a few defenders, Aaron Walsh ran a great support line, took the offload and timed his pass to perfection to put Liam Flynn away. Liam showed his finishing skills by rounding the defense and scoring in the corner. From the restart, Oisin Gleeson carried hard into the Munsters half, Seanie Quinlan made a sniping run off the breakdown, drew the defense and put Jack Tierney away on the charge. He was hauled down on the 22-yard line and with the Munsters defense in disarray Charlie Talbot moved the ball wide to Daragh Meehan who stepped inside the tackle and raced away to score Nenagh's second try. Charlie Talbot converted to make the score 20-12. Nenagh lost concentration and left Munsters in for another soft score to push them 27-12 ahead with ten minutes remaining. Nenagh came again though. Aaron Quinlan gathered a Munsters clearance, ghosted through the defense and put in an inch perfect grubber kick into the opposition's 10m line. Liam Flynn won the lineout and lovely hands by Dara Corish, Hugo Healy and Charlie Talbot allowed Dara Boland to score Nenagh's third try. Charlie Talbot kicked a great conversion to make it 27-19. Now there was only one team in the game and Nenagh went the length of the field. After some good work at the breakdown they had Munster’s defense scrambling, Hugh Healy ran a perfect line to score Nenagh's fourth try to leave the Full tIme score 27-24. Next up we are away to Carrick on Suir next Sunday. Training continues every Wednesday and Friday. New players born in 2009 are always welcome. Contact Barry Meehan on 087 7976227.
U14: Nenagh Ormond under 14s played Bruff on Sunday last in Nenagh College. The game was played in 3 thirds as this will be the format for the upcoming Pan Munster Cup which starts on the 28th of January. Nenagh started well from the kick off and took the game to Bruff. Robbie O'Brien was chief ball carrier and made good yards on numerous occasions. For the first try Nenagh found themselves on the Bruff 5m line. Quick thinking was shown by Aidan Steed who picked and drove low to get under the defense and score. The second try followed quickly with Ben Madden making a good break in midfield putting the Bruff defense in disarray. From the ensuing ruck Marcus moved it wide to Kaden Fogarty who drew the last defender and passed to Hugo Massy who powered over the line. Nenagh got one further try in the opening third. Again Robbie made good yards to get us into Bruff 22. The ball was then moved wide to Shane Gleeson who showed great feet to beat 2 defenders and score. The second third was a tighter tussle but Nenagh’s defence stood firm no matter what came at it. Nenagh also added a further 2 tries. James O Dwyer finished off a good team try in the corner and also set up the next try. James made the initial break in midfield which had the Bruff defence scrambling. The ball made its way to Luke Slattery who threw a peach of a long pass out to Daniel Boland who collected without breaking stride to score. The final third saw Nenagh make further changes and scoring 2 more tries. Analun White scored a very good individual try, collecting the ball deep in their own half before running the length of the field to score. Our last try was scored by Daniel Boland. He collected the ball off Scott Powell and sprinted up the touch line to score, doing very well to stay in the field of play. Nenagh did concede a try off a 5m scrum. We seemed to switch off and Bruff coasted in. A very good performance overall with all 27 players getting game time. A speedy recovery to Sean Ryan and Cody Sheedy who were both injured in last week's game against Birr. Training continues Wednesday evening
U13: The under 13 tank division rolled back into Limerick Sunday morning to take on Young Munster at their training grounds in Derryknockane. Young Munster are always a tough team to play, with a proud tradition and big following. They proved nuggety opponents again, however the lads, despite some uncharacteristic basic handling errors, soon got to grips with their opponents and went into a 12-0 lead at the break. Nenagh were however more often than not getting on the end of some very perplexing decisions from the man in the middle with a penalty almost guaranteed to the opposition on entry into their 22. This made the game very stop-start for us which doesn’t suit our game and there was no real flow to proceedings. However the lads kept their heads in the game and some excellent tries, especially one superb long range effort from the Toomevara Express Aidan O'Gorman soon put the game to bed and we were able to come out 32-5 winners. Special mention has to go to our captain JP Callahan on his hat trick of tries and to Gavin O'Brien for scoring his first competitive try for NORFC. We play Bruff next week in Nenagh and another tough battle will be on cards. Training continues on Wednesday night at 7 at Nenagh College
U12 Girls: Our girls U12 were in action in Galbally at the weekend. They are making strong progress and played extremely well in all their games. Skills and drills continue to improve week on week. Training continues every Wednesday from 7 till 8 in the rugby club.
U11: The Under 11s hosted a blitz in Nenagh College on Sunday morning with Birr RFC sending two teams and one team travelling from Ballina-Killaloe. With 44 of the squad turning up Nenagh were able to field three strong teams and all the lads got good game time. It was great to get the lads out after a couple of fixture cancellations due to poor weather recently. All three teams put in a great shift, with some areas of improvement to work on before our next outing away to Bruff on Jan 28th.
Split the Bucket: Our Split the Bucket Draw continues to hand out a minimum of €500 in prize money every week. Congratulations to our latest winner Dylan Murphy. Go to nenaghormondrfc.com/products to enter and be in with a chance to win.
A Night with Keith Wood: Our U12s are currently fundraising for an upcoming tour to Barcelona in March 2024. As part of their efforts they have arranged an event that will appeal to all rugby followers in the locality. “An Evening with Keith Wood” takes place on Thurs Jan 18th in the clubhouse at 8pm. Tickets are priced at €20 and available on nenaghormondrfc.com/products. All are welcome. There will be a bar and finger food for those in attendance on the night. Don’t miss out on what should be a great night’s entertainment.
Fixtures:
Senior: Nenagh vs Greystones RFC. Saturday Jan 20th @ 14.30 (Dr. Hickey Park, Greystones)- Energia AIL
U20.5: Nenagh vs UCC RFC. Wednesday Jan 17th @ 19.30 (Mardyke, Cork)
U18.5: Nenagh vs Highfield. Sunday Jan 21st @ 12.00 (Lisatunny)
U15: Nenagh vs Carrick on Suir RFC. Sunday Jan 21st @ 13.00 (Carrick on Suir)
U13: Nenagh vs Bruff RFC, Sunday @ 12.00 (Nenagh College)
