Saturday January 18th

AIL Division 1B Round 11

Forenoughts

 

Naas   27      Nenagh Ormond   21

 

Nenagh try scorers: Dylan Murphy, Charlie O’Doherty

Charlie O’Doherty – 3 penalties, 1 conversion

 

Naas try scorers: Aidan O’Kane, Paddy Taylor, Michel Haznar, Darragh Murphy

Bryan Croke – 2 conversions

Peter Osborne – 1 penalty

 

Referee: Jonathan Erskine

 

Report by Mike McMahon

 

Nenagh Ormond’s seven match winning run in all competitions came to a shuddering end last Saturday at the hands of a spirited Naas outfit who outfought their division 1B rivals to hold out for a deserved 27-21 win.

When the sides met in the reverse fixture back on 7th December, they were only separated by a single point but Nenagh went into this match as red hot favorites. Lying second in the table to Old Belvedere, Nenagh had accumulated 42 from their first 10 matches, compared to Naas’s tally of only 17 with the Kildare side lying in 8th place and looking not to get sucked into a relegation dogfight.

Nenagh began the game in uncharacteristically subdued fashion and lacking their usual energetic bite but the hosts were clearly up for the fight and it took them only 5 minutes to break the deadlock. A well-executed lineout close to the Nenagh line set up a driving maul from which hooker Aidan O’Kane touched down for the opening try. Experienced out-half Bryan Croke converted to give his side an early 7-0 lead.

A comedy of errors from both sides following the re-start ended with a simple penalty chance for Nenagh full-back Charlie O’Doherty to get his side off the mark. Having settled, the visitors then enjoyed probably their best spell of the match as they largely dominated the rest of the opening quarter. Inaccuracy and a lack of patience cost them dearly however as they squandered two golden try opportunities during this period.

First of all Nenagh were held up as they drove over the line and they then botched another glorious chance when a well-worked 5 metre penalty was knocked on with a try looking certain. 

The game then became littered with errors from both sides and was turning into a very scrappy affair until 21 minutes in impressive Naas centre Paddy Taylor intercepted a loose Nenagh pass in midfield to race clear and score under the posts. A 14-3 lead for the home team then at half time but there was a feeling that Nenagh had yet to really land a blow of any significance.

The anticipated resurgence from the Tipperary visitors did materialise to a degree as they attacked with more urgency and accuracy in the early minutes of the second half. They got back to within 8 points with a well struck penalty from Charlie O’Doherty but Naas responded immediately and good handling from their backline sent winger Michael Haznar over in the corner to reassert their advantage and stretch the lead to 19-6.

Nenagh got their first try when hooker Dylan Murphy dotted down from a lineout maul to cut the deficit back to 8 points with 20 minutes remaining and the stage set for another trademark Nenagh comeback. Frustratingly however, Ormond once again took their foot of the pedal and shockingly poor defence allowed Naas replacement back-rower Darragh Murphy to evade a number of tackles before touching down in the left corner for his side’s fourth try.

Softly conceded tries became the order of the day from the restart as O’Doherty caught the home defence off guard with a quickly tapped penalty to score way too easily.

A penalty for holding on allowed veteran replacement Peter Osborne to slot over a penalty for the home side, bringing the score to 27-18 but there was still an air of expectation that Nenagh might still produce a final flourish to eke out another late win. A long pass to Nicky Irwin out on the right wing looked like a certain try but he was tackled and ended up being penalised for holding on.

When Nenagh secured a kickable penalty with 5 minutes to go, they really had no option but to try to reduce the deficit to within bonus point range. O’Doherty duly obliged to bring the deficit back to 6.

It was last chance saloon time for Nenagh Ormond at this stage as they set up a lineout maul 10 metres out. Half of the home pack seemed to be offside as they thwarted that particular advance and when Angus Blackmore failed to connect with his centre partner Conor McMahon in the closing moments, the game was well and truly up.

In the words of Van Morrison “there will be days like this” and in fairness this is probably the first time all season that Nenagh have produced such a lack-lustre display. With only 7 games left however and now 7 points behind leaders Old Belvedere, there is no scope for such lapses going forward.

Invariably at this time of the season, injuries come into the reckoning and this game saw that list grow with Patrick Scully, Conor O’Shaughnessy and Evan Murphy all sustaining heavy knocks and having to leave the field.

On the positive side, Nenagh have very good squad depth this year and are better placed to deal with injuries with excellent cover options throughout the side. 

Back home next week, Nenagh will take on bottom side Shannon, who pushed leaders Old Belvedere all the way before losing narrowly 24-22 in a much-improved display. A wonderful opportunity for Nenagh to get their promotion challenge back on track you would think but they will know that they need a serious step up from this ultimately disappointing performance at Forenaughts.

Nenagh Ormond: Nenagh: 1. Sean Frawley, 2. Dylan Murphy, 3. Jack O’Keeffe, 4. Craig Hannon, 5. Kevin O’Flaherty (c) 6. Jake O'Kelly, 7. Evan Murphy, 8. John O'Flaherty, 9. Nicky Irwin, 10. Ben Pope, 11. Davy Gleeson, 12. Patrick Scully, 13. Angus Blackmore, 14. Conor O’Shaughnessy, 15. Charlie O’Doherty, 16. Shane Malone, 17. Matthew Burke, 18. Fionn O’Meara, 19. Joseph Coffey, 20. Josh Rowland, 21. Conor McMahon.

Naas: 1. Conor Doyle, 2. Aidan O’Kane, 3. Adam Deay, 4. James O’Loughlin, 5. Koloa Aisake, 6. Muiris Cleary, 7. Will O’Brien (c), 8. Ryan Casey, 9. Cormac King, 10. Bryan Croke, 11. Michel Haznar, 12. Paddy Taylor, 13. Charlie Sheridan, 14. Donal Conroy, 15. Jack Sheridan, 16. Francisco Bartorelli, 17. Stephen Lackey, 18. Darragh Murphy, 19. Cillian Dempsey, 20. Peter Osborne, 21. Derry Lenehan.