Nenagh Ormond 19 Bruff 5

On Friday last Nenagh Ormond U-14s played Bruff in Lisatunney under lights in the quarter finals of the North Munster Plate.

From the kick off it was clear that Nenagh were well up for the game, which was played in tough conditions. Following some good work in midfield Mason scored our first try, with an arcing run from onside his own half. With the forwards on top, we worked our way into the Bruff 22 and Josh Morgan, operating in the front row, and reveling in the physicality of the game, powered his way over for his first try of the season. What a journey it has been for this young man. Zac expertly converted to leave the score at 12 nil.

The pack continued to press hard and when we got the ball some good offloading by Mason and Jack McNamara put Jack O Callaghan through for our third try again converted by Zac. One of the many highlights was a superb driving tackle by John Mulvihill, where he drove the Bruff player out from our line, got down over the ball, and in the style of Peter O Mahoney, stayed on his feet and forced the turnover.

It was a credit to our guys that even on the worst of nights we put the ball through the hands and played quality rugby.

The second half started with sustained pressure from Bruff however the Nenagh defence was equal to the task. With 5 mins to go they scored a try, but the difficult conversion was missed, and the game finished at 19 - 5.

On the night the Morgan twins were superb, Mason continued his fine form, John Mulvihill at 6 was powerful in the tight and the multi talented Jack O Callaghan was simply outstanding at his best position of inside centre. Tadgh Gleeson was solid at full back, Cillian and Fintan defended well and Jack Mac, adapting to life on the wing, patrolled his wing with menacing physicality.

Overall a fine team performance in difficult conditions, against a team which we have never beaten. There has been a major improvement in our aggression levels these past few weeks, with all balls now fiercely contested for, and a noticeable reduction in he amount of ball given cheaply which was a feature of our early season.

Our thanks to Hilary Mulvihill and the rest of the helpers for providing refreshments to our visitors on a cold night, to Tommy Moylan for refereeing and to the senior club for the use of the lights, which made it a night to remember for our young players.

Next up is a home semi Final Sunday week

Team

Mikey Morgan Dylan Schweitnitz Josh Morgan Cillian Ryan capt. Fintan O Keefe John Mulvihill Matthew Coffey Tristan Madden Darragh Spillane Zac Keller Sean Ryan Jack Callaghan Mason Cawley Jack McNamara Tadgh Gleeson- REPS. Jack Harford Cormac Sullivan William Fogarty Ivan Strusia

HT Jack Harford for Sean Ryan, Cormac Sullivan for Dylan, William Fogarty for Matthew and Ivan for Tristan Madden