Nenagh U15 V Mitchelstown

Report by Mikey Fogarty

Nenagh Ormond under 15s played their first game of the pan Munster U16 competition on Sunday last. Mitchelstown RFC were the opposition and Nenagh didn't know what to expect as we never played them before. It was quite a blustery day so handling conditions were very challenging at times. From the drop off Nenagh started well and got a foot hold into the game from a knock on by the opposition. After a couple of phases the ball was moved wide to Tommy Powell who beat the last defender to score our first try. Mitchelstown scored next through their powerful forwards. The Nenagh defence seemed to switch off and let them gain big yards on several occasions. Most of the play for the next 15 mins or so was between the 22s. From a scrum just inside the opposition 10 metre line Kaden Fogarty put in a cross field kick which was gathered excellently by Oisin Hogan who danced his way through multiple defenders and offloaded to Ben Madden who was very unlucky not to score. The ref brought play back for a penalty in which Aidan Steed found a hole in the defence and powered his way over the line. Oisin Hogan kicked a brilliant conversion from near the touch line. The half time score was 12-7.

For the second half Nenagh had the wind behind their backs and used it brilliantly at times, gaining big metres on several occasions and one excellent 50/22. Nenagh scored next when from a lineout Ben Madden, who had a fine game in defence and attack, carried the ball up and then offloaded to Tommy Powell who then shifted it onto Oisin Hogan. It looked like the tryline was open, but Oisin went back against the grain and made huge yards. He then passed to Anluan White who cut a good angle, beat a number of defenders and powered his way over the line to score. That left the score 17-7 but within 5 mins or so the opposition registered another try to bring it back to a one score game. From a lineout Nenagh shifted the ball wide to Cian Murphy who made good yards in tight space and from the resulting ruck Luke Slattery picked and went blind, beating the last defender to score in the corner. Nenagh seemed to have a bit of momentum at this stage and scored another try shortly afterwards. Nenagh had a penalty 5 yards out, Anluan White took it himself and ghosted in to score in the corner. In the last play of the game Mitchelstown scored to leave the final score 27-19. Overall, it was a good performance. Upfront the forwards worked so hard especially in the first half when against the wind. Alex Monko, Shaun Murphy, Joe Fahy, Sean Ryan were to the fore with carries. The backs played very well too. The wingers of Harry Walsh, Tommy Powell, Cian Murphy and full back Oisin Hogan managed anything that came their way especially against the wind. In particular, the game management of using the wind at the right time when kicking was impressive. Training continues Wednesday and Friday evening.