Ennis U16  12  Nenagh Ormond U16  14

Nenagh Ormond under 16s played Ennis away on Sunday last in the U16 Munster Cup quarter final. The game was meant to be played last weekend but the weather put that on hold. Nenagh went into the game without a fixture for 3 weeks and some parts of the game showed a lack of sharpness which comes with playing games regularly. However, there were also aspects of the game where Nenagh excelled particularly game management and defence. Nenagh played with the wind in the first half and most of the game was played in the Ennis half. Nenagh got the first score on the board after about 10 minutes. Ennis tried to move the ball wide, Cody O Connor intercepted and dotted down under the posts and converted for a 7-0 lead. Nenagh struggled to get phase play going due to a resolute defence from Ennis who were particularly quick at latching onto the ball once the attacker hit the ground. As the half went on Ennis came more and more into the game and started putting phases together along with some good tactical kicking. Nenagh had two opportunities to kick 2 difficult penalties but both were wide of the mark. Then just before half time a quick tap was moved to Luke Slattery who broke the line and set up a quick ruck where the ball was moved on to Cody O’Connor who passed and put Oisin Higgins through only to be called back for a forward pass by the ref and the half time whistle was blown.

Nenagh had it all to do with only a 7 point lead and playing into a strong breeze in the second half. Nenagh started well in and most of the play was outside their 22 but after 8 mins or so Ennis got a foothold of the ball closer to the Nenagh line. Nenagh showed great resilience to keep Ennis out and on one occasion we held the ball up over the line, but eventually Ennis turned the pressure into points and scored a converted try. Nenagh did not sit back and, whilst they were under pressure at some scrums, the lineouts were very competitive. The general play was good at times and the defence was working really hard. For the next 15 to 20 minutes most of the game was played between the Ennis 10 metre line and Nenagh 22. It was becoming a real tight tussle. Ennis kicked a penalty into the Nenagh 22 and had Nenagh under real pressure. Nenagh eventually turned the ball over but the ref called it back for an offside in front of the posts. Everyone thought Ennis would take the 3 points but they took a quick tap and scored after a couple of phases. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 12-7 to the hosts. With only 2 minutes left Nenagh got one last chance after Ennis kicked long for territory. Cian Murphy made great yards after contact to put the Ennis defence on the back foot and Marcus Finn moved the ball to Cody O’Connor who took the ball to the line and went through a half gap and then on being tackled offloaded to Aron Griffin on the 10 metre line. Aron was tackled just short of the line but his momentum helped him slide over the try line. O’Connor kicked a very difficult conversion from the touchline to leave the score 14-12 as the referee blew the final whistle. Overall it was a real tough game with both sides very strong in defence and very few line breaks. Nenagh now play Cobh in the Munster semi final next Sunday in Fethard at 1:15pm.