Under 18.5: Nenagh Ormond U18.5s made the short trip to UL last Friday evening where they faced Ennis in the play off for a place in the quarter final of the Munster Club Cup. When they played earlier in the season just two points separated these teams and with so much at stake Nenagh knew this was going to be a tough game.
Ennis got off to a great start and went on the attack straight away, landing a penalty to go 3 points ahead after just three minutes. They scored again soon after when, after working through the phases to gain a foothold in Nenagh’s territory, they chipped over the top and gathered to touch down. Ennis were well organised and aggressive in the contact area while Nenagh struggled to get out of the blocks. The Clare side scored three times again in the second quarter – first a try when they broke from their own half and their support was there to get around the scrambling defence, then a second penalty and finally their third try.
At 21-0 down it looked like there was no way back for Nenagh but with a few minutes left before the break they finally started to get into the game. When they won a penalty in the Ennis 22, they ran it and, after some strong carries by Luke Conneally and John Brislane, Joe Shanahan powered over the line. Aaron Delahunty converted to leave the half time score at 7-21.
Nenagh were a different team in the second half and really stepped it up, working together more and starting to retain possession and make good ground. There was no score for most of the third quarter as, despite some great play, a few decisions and errors prevented Nenagh from converting their possession into points. Then, completely against the run of play, an intercept try pushed Ennis’s lead out to 28 points to 7.
In fairness, after this sucker punch, the Nenagh lads could have been forgiven at this point if they let their heads drop but, all credit to them, they just dug in and kept working. With just over ten minutes to go, Brislane and Conneally again ran strongly after a quickly taken penalty to bring Nenagh to within inches of the line where a pick and go from Jack Butler took him in for Nenagh’s second try which was converted by Joseph Gleeson. Nenagh really went up through the gears after that and the pressure forced Ennis to concede a number of penalties. Nenagh were very unlucky not to score again - they got over the line on a few occasions only to be held up which allowed Ennis to kick out and relieve the pressure. Final score Nenagh Ormond 14-28 Ennis.
Our U18.5s have done well to get themselves to a position where they were in with a chance of a place in the final 8 of the top club competition in the province and they can be very proud of the performances that got them this far. Although the lads were disappointed with this result on the night, they now go into the Development Cup where they travel to Muskerry for the quarter final in a fortnight.
Nenagh Team: Josh Powell, Sean Ryan, Aaron Delahunty, Jack O’Flaherty, Tristan Madden, Joseph Gleeson, Luke Graham, Dylan Schweitnitz, Sam O’Brien, Joe Shanahan, James Simons, Cillian Ryan, Ivan Struzia, John Brislane (c), Luke Conneally🔴⚪️
