Saturday February 08th
AIL Division 1B Round 13
Dub Lane, Belfast
QUB 24 Nenagh 14
Nenagh scorers: Tries: Angus Blackmore, Davy Gleeson, Conversions: Conor McMahon x 2.
QUB scorers: Tries: Joe Hopes, Penalty Try, Josh Stevens, Ben McFarlane, Conversions: Ben McFarlane x 1, Penalty Try Conversion.
Referee: Daniel Carson
Player of the match: Josh Stevens
Going into this game Queens University Belfast were five points clear of the relegation zone and 11 points short of fourth for the end of season play-offs. A win here would be significant in terms of how the rest of the season would play out for them, deciding which half of the table they would be contesting. For Nenagh, a win would go a long way towards consolidating a home promotion playoff spot. Any trip up North is always a difficult one considering the distance involved and for Nenagh on the day this proved to be the case.
Queens had shipped 70 points in their most recent encounter away to Old Belvedere and they were determined to bounce back from that which they did so in style. For the first thirty minutes they owned the game both in terms of possession and territory. Their lineout in particular was very strong with their two academy second rows, Joe Hopes and Charlie Irvine, to the fore both in attack and defense. An early lineout in the Nenagh 22 was the foundation for their first try. While the initial maul was defended well, a number of pick and goes resulted in Joe Hopes getting over for the first score after six minutes. The subsequent difficult conversion was missed.
It didn’t take long for Queens to get back on the score board again. A lovely kick through by centre Ryan Street almost resulted in a score for Ben McFarlane but Davy Gleeson excellently got across to cover and dispatch the ball to touch five metres out. From the resulting lineout Queens looked to have the nudge on to score but Nenagh collapsed the maul and the referee had no hesitation in running under the posts to award a penalty try for a 12-0 lead. Worse still Kevin O’Flaherty received a yellow card for the offence.
Queens continued to threaten and any territory Nenagh had in the Queens half was quickly dealt with by Queens excellent kicking game where they wisely refused to play rugby in their own half. Just before the half hour mark, Queen’s outhalf Eamon Rodgers kicked an excellent 50-22 from the base of a scrum. After a number of phases their number 7, Josh Stevens got over for the third try. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 17-0. It was only at this stage that Nenagh mounted their first real threats. A couple of penalties brought them into the Queen’s 22. At this stage the Queen’s defence was testing the referee’s patience. A penalty in front of the posts almost resulted in a score but Queens secured a vital turnover. Nenagh came back again and secured a lineout in the same area. The referee signaled advantage for a lineout infringement and when the Nenagh attack came to nothing it looked like an opportunity to kick to the corner and get something on the board before half time. Unfortunately, someone said something the ref took offence to and the penalty was reversed. Queens kicked the ball off to end the half at 17-0.
The first score of the second half was always going to be vital. Three minutes in, Nenagh looked like they would get it but a spilled ball 5 metres from the Queens line was hacked up field. Ben McFarlane gathered it and brilliantly chipped over the last defender and won the chase to the tryline. He converted his own try to bring the score to 24-0.
The next 25 minutes or so was very scrappy. The lack of any structure to the game effectively ruled out any possible comeback by Nenagh. Queens were happy to sit back and concede penalties rather than scores. As the penalty count rose against them, the referee’s patience, which they had tested towards the end of the first half, finally broke. First Joe Hopes went to the line followed shortly by Ryan Street leaving Queens down to 13 on the field. Nenagh exploited well on the half hour mark as Angus Blackmore glided through to score under the posts. The extras were added for 24-7 but with less than 10 minutes left Queens were safe. Davy Gleeson got in for a second try in the last play of the game which Conor McMahon converted for a final score of 24-14.
Nenagh will look back on the game and rue a number of self-inflicted errors that allowed Queens so much territory and possession in that first 30 minutes. A bounce will be expected next week against struggling Highfield to get Nenagh’s promotion charge back on track. The gap back to Old Wesley is now only 4 points, and 7 points to Blackrock in terms of the promotion playoff spots, while UCC in 5th gained two points over the weekend to leave them 14 behind Nenagh.
The next outing for Nenagh in the AIL will be a home tie against Highfield next Saturday at 2:30pm. In the reverse fixture, Nenagh came with a very late flourish to secure a tight game 31 – 22 so it should be a great spectacle.
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. Joe Coffey, 8. John O'Flaherty, 9. Nicky Irwin, 10. Ben Pope, 11. Brian O’Rourke, 12. Angus Blackmore, 13. Conor McMahon, 14. Davy Gleeson, 15. Josh Rowland, 16. Mikey Doran, 17. Matthew Burke, 18. Fionn O’Meara, 19. John Healy, 20. Derek Corcoran, 21. Conor O’Shaughnessy.
QUB: 1. Jack Boal, 2. Zac Solomons, 3. Flynn Longstaff, 4. Joe Hopes, 5. Charlie Irvine, 6. Will Cusack, 7. Josh Stevens, 8. Tom Brigg, 9. Harvey Patterson, 10. Eamon Rodgers, 11. Ben McFarlane, 12. Callum Florence, 13. Ryan Street, 14. Lukas Kenny, 15. Rory Telfer, 16. Josh Stewart, 17. Jacob Boyd, 18. Tyrese Abolarin, 19. Kyle Ferguson, 20. Fraser Cunningham, 21. Ethan Patterson.
