Nenagh Ormond U16  38 Cobh Pirates U16  22

 

Nenagh Ormond under 16s made the trip to Fethard Town Park for the semi-final of the U16 Munster cup competition. After a very tight win in the quarter final Nenagh went into this game with great optimism but were also quite cautious given the fact they knew little or nothing about their opponents. Cobh brought a large squad to the game so Nenagh were expecting a serious battle ahead. Cobh won the toss and decided to play against the strong wind in the first half. Nenagh knew they had to get out of the blocks early to try and build a lead. Nenagh kicked the game off and got their hands on the ball quite quickly. After some excellent phase play, the ball was moved to midfield to Shaun Murphy who offloaded in contact to Oisin Higgins who fed Cian Murphy on the wing to score in the corner. Cobh upped their intensity and were using clever kicks to try and push us back into our own half. From one such kick Marcus Finn collected and pinned Cobh back into their 22. From a lineout steal by Eoin Hogan, Nenagh went through multiple phases and got a penalty for a high tackle. Nenagh opted to tap and go. David Mulcahy carried first, then Aidan Steed and then Luke Slattery powered his way over the line from close range. Cody O’Connor added the extras to give Nenagh a 12 nil lead. After that score Cobh got a foothold in the game and scored in the corner after a clever penalty move. The conversion was missed to leave the score 12-5. Nenagh scored next through a little good fortune. Cobh were in their 22 and tried to clear their lines but the wind held the kick up and Cian Murphy, on catching the ball, pirouetted to beat three defenders and raced down the wing to score his second try. Cody O’Connor again added the extras. Five minutes later, after a brilliant long range kick by Cody O’Connor, Nenagh found themselves attacking in the opposition 22 again. After some brilliant handling Shaun Murphy fed Oisin Higgins who scored near the posts. Cody added the conversion to leave the half time score 26-5 in Nenagh’s favour but turning to face into the stiff breeze.

 

At the start of the second half Cobh came back at Nenagh with real intent. After a knock on in midfield Cobh moved the ball to the fringes and an excellent finish from their winger followed after a chip and chase. Cobh scored soon after again in the corner to give them huge momentum.  Nenagh rallied from the drop off and found themselves on the edge of the opposition 22 after a knock on. From the scrum Oisin Higgins found a gap in midfield and dotted down under the posts. Cody added the extra two points. That seemed a very important score in the context of the game. The next 5 minutes was played between both 22s but after that Cobh scored after good positional play by them. Nenagh didn’t sit back and went after another score with some brilliant impact off the bench. After a knock on Nenagh had a scrum in the Cobh 22 and after a couple of phases Luke Slattery found a gap and powered his way over the line. That the final score of the game with Nenagh winning 38-22.

 

Thanks to all who travelled to support the group. Nenagh now have a Munster final to look forward to on Sunday March 29th at 1pm in Virgin Media Park against Midleton who overcame Waterpark in the other semi-final. Training continues Wednesday and Friday.