Energia AIL Division 1A Round 12

(HT: Nenagh Ormond 17 St. Marys 35)

New Ormond Park

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)

Report by Mike McMahon

Player of the Match: Miles Carey

Scorers: Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Dylan Murphy, Davy Gleeson x 2, Willie Coffey, Fionn Higgins; Cons: James Finn x 1.
St. Marys: Tries: Conor Dean, Myles Carey x 3, Ronan Watters, Dan Goggin, Mick McCormack; Cons: Mick O’Gara x 7.

It isn’t often that a team scores five tries and is still well beaten but that is what happened to Nenagh Ormond as they fell to a home defeat at the hands of St Mary’s in this round 12 tie of AIL Division 1A.

The Dubliners scored seven tries of their own to secure a comfortable victory. However Nenagh were again highly competitive in what was a hugely entertaining game. Centre Myles Carey was the star of the show for Mary’s, bagging 3 tries to add to the two he scored in the reverse fixture last November.

Nenagh got off to a poor start, failing to secure the kick-off and conceding a very soft score within the first minute, out-half Conor Dean touching down in the corner. Nenagh responded well and came close to scoring on 8 minutes from a driving maul but they were 14 points down shortly after when Carey broke through to race clear and score under the posts.

The home side were struggling to keep pace with this impressive Mary’s outfit but they got themselves back into the game when they mauled over from a 5 metre lineout on 25 minutes, the touchdown coming from hooker Dylan Murphy. No sooner had the game restarted however, and Carey was at it again as he gathered a well-weighted chip by Dean to race clear for his second try and put his side into a commanding 21-5 lead.

With flanker Ronan Watters securing the 4 try bonus point on the half hour and Carey completing his hat-trick almost immediately from the re-start prospects were looking bleak for a shell-shocked Nenagh who were now 30 points adrift and looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat.

They managed to pull a try back when James Finn and Matt Brice combined well to send Davy Gleeson over in the corner and things improved further for the home side when centre Willie Coffey broke through the Mary’s defence to score just before half time.

Nenagh were going to have to score first in the second half if they were to have any chance and they did just that, taking advantage of a sin-binning for Mary’s hooker Richie Bergin to set up a second try for winger Gleeson. That short window of hope evaporated however when number 8 Dan Goggin powered over shortly afterwards to stretch out the St Mary’s lead and effectively kill the game.

The remainder of the game was fairly evenly balanced, with both sides playing expansive rugby and scoring a try apiece, the last coming from young left winger Fionn Higgins who once again looked very comfortable at this level.

The win puts St Mary’s in a strong position to secure a home semi-final in the play-offs whilst Nenagh remain adrift at the bottom of the table. Next up for Nenagh is a trip north to take on Ballynahinch, who come off the back of an impressive 34-13 win over Lansdowne.

NENAGH ORMOND: 15. Davy Gleeson, 14. Matt Brice, 13 Willie Coffey, 12. Patrick Scully, 11. Fionn Higgins, 10. James Finn, 9. Luke Kerr, 1. Mikey Doran, 2. Dylan Murphy, 3. Matthew Burke, 4. Kevin Seymour, 5. Kevin O’Flaherty (c), 6. Rob Buckley, 7. Joe Coffey, 8. John O’Flaherty.
Replacements: 16. Mateo Sentous, 17. Darragh McSweeney, 18. Fionn O’Meara, 19. John Brislane, 20. Charlie O’Doherty, 21. Conor McMahon.

St. Marys: 15. Steven Kilgallen, 14. Aaron O’Sullivan, 13. Myles Carey, 12. Mick O’Gara, 11. Ruairi Shields, 10. Conor Dean, 9. Colm Reilly, 1. Oisin Michel, 2. Richie Bergin, 3. Mick McCormack, 4. Greg Jones, 5. Conor Pierce, 6. Josh Gimblett, 7. Ronan Watters, 8. Dan Goggin.
Replacements: 16. Jack Nelson Murray, 17. Thomas O’Reilly, 18. Ciaran Scott, 19. Daniel Leane, 20. Adam McEvoy, 21. Stephen Kennedy.