St. Marys 1st XV 17 Nenagh 2nd XV 27
Nenagh Ormond 2nds travelled to The Grove in Limerick to take on St. Mary’s in the last 16 of the Munster Junior Cup on Sunday last. It is always a tough encounter to step up to play another clubs first team and that proofed to be the case on the day with the result in the balance up to the final moments.
Nenagh started brightly into a light breeze and within five minutes had got themselves on the scoreboard. A long clearance kick by Joseph Gleeson was followed up by himself and the ball bounced perfectly into his hands for him to race away and score under the posts leaving Evan Fitzpatrick with the easy conversion for an early 7-0 lead. St. Mary’s fought back well and after a period of sustained possession and territory, their outhalf found a gap to score under the posts and added the conversion for 7 all after 15 minutes. The contest was very physical and Nenagh, while dominating territory for most of the half, struggled against their physical bigger opponents. A number of kickable close range penalties were turned down in favour of tap and goes but Nenagh could not break through. During one of these phases, Nenagh lost Craig Hannon to a shoulder injury which left us without one of our stronger ball carrying options. Evan Fitzpatrick did try a long range kick just before half time but the ball drifted to the right and wide. All to play for so at half time at 7 all.
The second half started much the same as the first with Nenagh the more enterprising team going forward. However, it was St. Mary’s who would get on the scoreboard first with a simple penalty for a 10-7 lead. About ten minutes in came the score of the game, a fine individual effort by Brian O’Rourke. He made a line break inside his own half and then feigned a kick over the full back before rounding him on the outside and running in a great score. Evan added the conversion for a 14-10 lead. Shortly after he added a straightforward penalty to increase the lead to 17-10. St. Mary’s replied brilliantly when their winger ran a great line back against the grain deceiving the Nenagh defense and going in under the posts bringing the score to 17 all after the easy conversion. Having struggled against the opposition physically in the first half, Nenagh were now probing much more through the backs. One such foray allowed Ryan Thompson room on the left wing to break clear and score a great team try. Evan again added the extras and Nenagh now led 24-17 with ten minutes remaining. Another nice back line move then put Joseph Gleeson into space. He kicked over the full back and was taken out without the ball resulting in a penalty where the ball landed. Evan Fitzpatrick pointed to the posts and duly added three points to extend the lead to ten with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately, the penalty incident led to Joseph having to retire from the game. St. Marys tried valiantly to add to their tally, but the Nenagh defence held out to secure the victory.
Nenagh now face Thomond, one of the tournament favourites, in the quarter final next Sunday in Nenagh.
Team: 1 Ivan Struzia, 2 Jack Devanny, 3 Sean Frawley, 4 Kevin O’Gorman (c), 5 Craig Hannon, 6 Fionn O’Meara, 7. James Meagher, 8 Robert Buckley, 9 David Corcoran, 10 Evan Fitzpatrick, 11 Kian O’Kelly, 12 Brian O’Rourke, 13 Alex Moloney, 14 Ryan Thompson, 15 Joseph Gleeson, 16 Shane Malone, 17 Paudie Bourke, 18 Niall O’Gorman, 19 Darragh Tucker, 20 Luke Graham, 21 Conor McGrath.
