Nenagh U16 V Birr

Nenagh didn't find top gear against a tough Birr side but deservedly won on a scoreline of 24-17. Nenagh made a promising start to the game with early pressure in the Birr 22. The forwards made some great carries and managed to maintain possession, but some promising attacks came to nothing following some scrambling defence from Birr who managed to hold Nenagh up over the try line on two occasions.  However, the early pressure eventually told when Nenagh crossed for their first try which was well converted by Charlie Talbot for a 7-0 lead. Nenagh were on the back foot from the restart. Birr managed to retain some possession, and they looked threatening when they moved the ball wide responding with two unconverted tries to take a 10-7 lead.  Birr didn't commit too many defenders to the ruck, kept their defenders on their feet and didn't allow Nenagh any space with their line speed in defence. So Nenagh went back to basics, the forwards carried hard from the base of the scrum, drove the maul from the lineouts and kicked for territory. While many promising attacks broke down when Nenagh were guilty of not resourcing the breakdown or being too slow to support the ball carrier they eventually got in for their second converted try to take a 14-10 lead at half time.

Nenagh started the second half the better team and good defensive pressure allowed Aaron Walsh to intercept and run in from the Birr 10 metre line to score under the posts for a 19-10 lead. Following some good work from Dara Corish and Dara Boland, Oscar Griffin touched down in the corner to move Nenagh 14 points ahead. Birr scored their third and final try of the game through an interception to leave bring the score to 24-17 to Nenagh. Birr attacked strongly for the remainder of the game, but the Nenagh defence was a resolute and they held out to the final whistle.  We move on to Phase 2 of the U16 Munster Cup next weekend where we travel to Kinsale on Saturday morning.