AIL Round 16 

Saturday 22nd March New Ormond Park

NENAGH ORMOND 34 OLD WESLEY 26 

HT: Nenagh Ormond 17 Old Wesley 5

Referee: Padraic Reidy

Report by Mike McMahon

Nenagh Ormond moved closer to a home promotion semi-final with a well deserved but hard-earned win over fellow promotion challengers Old Wesley.

Having won the Munster Senior Challenge Cup the week before, Nenagh might have been forgiven for dropping down a gear in this tight fixture, but they showed great resolve in finally getting the better of a highly talented Old Wesley outfit.

The visitors started brightly but went down early against the play when a dropped pass in midfield bounced kindly for out-half Ben Pope who raced clear to score under the posts. Wesley attacked from the restart and quickly put the home side under serious pressure through a series of mauls which eventually led to a try from hooker Kieran O’Shea.

With the help of the elements in the first period, Nenagh got stronger as the game went on and consolidated their lead with a try from winger Josh Rowland mid-way through the half, converted by Conor McMahon who had earlier added a penalty goal. 

Nenagh held a 17-5 lead into half time and were playing well but now faced a stiff, cold breeze in the second period. Old Wesley took only 2 minutes to strike after the restart when impressive centre Alex Molloy ran a superb line to break clean through the home defence and score under the sticks.

With Nenagh reduced to 14 by a Davy Gleeson yellow card, Molloy exploited the space down Gleeson’s wing to turn provider for Ireland under 20 wing Paidi Farrell to touch down minutes later to level the match. Out-half Ian Cassidy the added the extras for a two point lead.

Having to combat the elements and now behind on the scoreboard, Nenagh responded brilliantly – first with a fine individual try from scrum half Charlie O’Doherty, followed by another shortly afterwards from the returned Davy Gleeson. When Josh Rowland grabbed his second try with only minutes remaining, the home victory was secure, but Wesley did manage to secure a bonus point by scoring a fourth try in the final minutes.

With Blackrock overturning champions Old Belvedere in the Dublin 4 derby, Old Wesley now drop to 4th place, just 2 points ahead of UCC. Third placed Blackrock will travel to Nenagh next week with the prospect of the pair meeting again in a promotion semi-final in April.

Scorers: Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Ben Pope, Josh Rowland 2, Charlie O’Doherty, Davey Gleeson; Cons: Conor McMahon 3; Pen: Conor McMahon
Old Wesley: Tries: Kieran O’Shea, Alex Molloy, Paidi Farrell, Rian Handley; Cons: Ian Cassidy 3

NENAGH ORMOND: 15. Charlie O’Doherty, 14. Davey Gleeson, 13. Conor McMahon, 12. Angus Blackmore, 11. Josh Rowland, 10. Ben Pope, 9. Nicky Irwin, 1. Mikey Doran, 2. Dylan Murphy, 3. Matthew Burke, 4. Fionn O’Meara, 5. Kevin O’Flaherty (c), 6. Joe Coffey, 7. John Healy, 8. John O’Flaherty.

Replacements: 16. Sean Frawley, 17. Colm Skehan, 18. Jake O’Kelly, 19. Rob Buckley, 20. Willie Coffey, 21. Derek Corcoran.

OLD WESLEY: 15. Tom Larke, 14. Paidi Farrell, 13. Alex Molloy, 12. Eoin Deegan, 11. Eoin Murphy, 10. Ian Cassidy, 9. Andrew Doyle, 1. Adam Watchorn, 2. Kieran O’Shea, 3. Evin Coyle, 4. Shane Cawley, 5. David Motyer, 6. Charlie Meagher, 7. Reuben Pim (c), 8. Will Fay.

Replacements: 16. Rian Handley, 17. Rory Duggan, 18. Cathal Kelly, 19. Gavin Meagher, 20. Adam O’Connor, 21. Willem Johnstone.