Nenagh under 13s made the journey down to Birr RFC on Sunday last. There was a stiff breeze blowing down the middle of the field and Birr opted to play into it. The first half was a ding dong battle with both defences on top. Nenagh made some brilliant ground with carries from the forwards and also with mazy runs from James Dwyer and Freddie Mitchell out wide. Kaden Fogarty and Oisin Hogan used the boot very well with the wind in their backs. Off one kick James Dwyer was very unlucky not to score after re-gathering a kick. In defence there were some excellent turnovers when we were under pressure from Luke Slattery, Alexander Monko and Shane Gleeson. The first half ended being 0-0 with Nenagh having it all to do playing against the breeze in the second half. Nenagh made multiple changes at half time and somewhat upset the rhythm of the team. We started very slowly and Birr scored 3 tries on the trot, converting one. Two of the tries were scored very easily due to missed tackles and tackling too high. However Nenagh re grouped and realised they had to carry the ball into the wind. The ante was upped and up stepped Luke Slattery with a brilliant individual effort. He collected the ball from deep and burst through numerous tackles and he wasn’t going to be stopped. Kaden Fogarty added the extras. In between that and the next try there were two try saving tackles from Harry Walsh, a great effort to keep Birr at bay. Nenagh did not sit back. Again Luke stepped up with another brilliant carry, running two thirds of the pitch, only to be stopped 5 metres short by a tap tackle. A couple of phases later the ball was moved quickly from the ruck to Sean Ryan who finished a good team try. The conversion was missed to leave it 17-12. Nenagh kept the momentum going and found themselves in the opponent's 22 once more. Nenagh were awarded a penalty and opted to tap and go. There were good carries from Shane Gleeson and Luke Slattery. When the ball made its way to Sean Ryan he carried it to the line. Marcus Finn sniped for the line but was short resulting in Birr knocking the ball on. Nenagh scrummed down and Anluan White picked the ball at the back of the scrum and powered over the line, refusing to be stopped. Kaden Fogarty kicked a very difficult conversion into the wind to leave the score 19-17. Nenagh did not claim the drop off and were under pressure for the last few plays. Again a brilliant turnover near our line from Donagh Carmody lifted the siege. From that the ball was moved wide by Aron Griffin to Harry Gannon who put the ball out of play. A good entertaining game overall with an excellent team attitude to get ourselves back in the game. Well done to the whole squad for their effort.