Cashel edge Munster Cup battle with Nenagh

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Cup Quarter-Final

Cashel 10

Nenagh Ormond 7

Report: Thomas Conway in Lisatunny

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Niall Fitzgerald (Cashel)

SCORERS – Cashel: Try: Wilson. Conv: McMahon. Pen: McMahon

Nenagh Ormond: Try: McMahon. Conv: McGibney

An all-Tipperary affair, an evolving local rivalry, but this one had a hint of an old-firm derby to it. Not due to raucous hostility in the crowd or bitter resentment between both clubs (we're all friends in Tipperary), but in the manner in which the game played out.

A relatively low scoring contest, characterised by gritty defending, copious stoppages, and the odd flash of brilliance from two sets of pacey attackers. On balance, Cashel deserved their victory, showing a degree of experience and composure which allowed them to overcome Nenagh's fast-moving verve. With rucks plentiful, scrums occurring every few minutes, and a never-ending series of line-outs, it didn’t make for pretty viewing but it certainly gave an insight into the defensive capacity of either side, particularly in terms of the forwards’ abilities to sustain huge workloads and dredge out possession when it was most vital.

Neither side had a monopoly on possession but Nenagh certainly enjoyed a greater share of the ball in the opening stages, captain Peter Coman seizing Alan McMahon’s kick off and pinging the ball straight back into touch. It was the first example of calculated and intelligent kicking on an afternoon in which both teams utilised the long ball to its maximum effect, showcasing exactly how such a strategy can reap rewards for a team under intense attacking pressure.

Cashel hooker Cormac O’Donnell delivered a praiseworthy performance from general play, but his first line-out delivery veered too far left for referee Mike Scanlon’s liking, resulting in a Nenagh scrum. The Nenagh scrum did succumb to Cashel pressure at times during the game, their first attempt was a success. More hard work was rewarded with a penalty, but it failed to pay dividends, as McGibney misconnected with the ball and sent his kick sailing left of the posts.

Another crooked lineout enabled Nenagh to shift play back inside the opposition 22, but the attack was dealt with well by the visitors, and all of sudden they tore open their hosts with an unlikely but effective break up the field. Flanker James Ryan scooped the ball out to his Number 8, the towering Idris Rqibi, who spotted the gap and bolted, powering past his own 22 before delivering a quick underhand pass to the oncoming Brendan Ryan. He managed to snatch another few metres before being brought down just inside the Nenagh half. Ultimately nothing came of the move, but it was a scary few seconds for the home side, enough to indicate the Cashel threat.

Although the South Tipp club hovered dangerously close to the Nenagh line, it was Ormond which went over first in the eleventh minute, somewhat fortuitously it has to be said, Derek Corcoran floating a beautifully weighted kick over the top near the stand side-line, the ball back favourably into the path of Conor McMahon, who glided in to ground the ball straight under the posts. McGibney added the easiest of conversions and Nenagh were in command - on the scoreboard at least.

Truth be told, neither side ever really had command of this contest. Ormond scrum-half Nicky Irwin was passing with precision, while also using the box-kick intelligently on one or two occasions, but in the 23rd minute he suddenly found a gap near the Cashel 10 metre line, and shot through it without hesitation. For a second the space seemed to open up in front of him, but red shirts quickly flooded his path and a clever chip over the top didn’t quite work out, but still allowed Nenagh to gain significant ground.

Sustained Cashel pressure over the following eight minutes put the Nenagh forwards under severe strain, and although they did well to halt several charges towards the try-line, the barricade was finally broken in the 31st minute, as the outstretched arm of Mikey Wilson managed to ground the ball centimetres beyond the line, leaving a straightforward conversion which Alan McMahon dispatched.

With a converted try on either side, it was one of those intriguing battles which, despite the low scoring, was both compelling and tense. That tension threatened to spill over into something more malign in the second period, which began with a fracas in the centre of the field, and while cautions were issued, cards weren’t produced, and the game continued in a haze of hard-earned turnovers and heaving rooks.

Cashel winger Adam Dunne had touched down against Shannon the previous week, and the former Cistercian College Roscrea speed-merchant always looked dangerous when his side entered Nenagh territory. Courtesy of Nenagh’s resistance, Dunne couldn’t manage a try on Saturday, but his presence certainly helped to generate a decisive Cashel penalty in the 51st minute, which McMahon calmly stroked between the posts.

It would prove to be the winning score, though the action would only ramp up in the closing stages. Ormond attacked with force, flinging the ball from wing to wing and searching for the path of least resistance, but coming up frustratingly short time and time again. Cashel’s steely composure really became visible at this point, as Denis Moran’s side gave an exhibition in how to grind out a result when the tide is flowing against you. Last-ditch Nenagh attacks failed to penetrate their opponents, and the southerners finished with three points to spare.

TEAMS – Cashel: Adam Dunne (7); Dermot Gallagher (7), Alan McMahon (8), Conor Cashman (7), Jack O'Rourke (7); Dan O'Neill (8), Josh Pickering (7); Cormac O’Donnell (7), Niall Fitzgerald (8), Brendan Ryan (8); Richard Moran (7), Brendan Crosse (7); Idris Rqibi (7), Aidan Butler (7), Mikey Wilson (8).

Reps: Cathal Ryan (7) for Rqibi (47); Robin Foot (7) for Crosse (61), Ben Blackford (7) for O’Donnell (65), Oisín O’Sullivan (7) for Cashman (65), Darragh Lyons (7) for Gallagher (75), Aidan O’Connor (NR) for Dunne (78).

Nenagh Ormond: Peter Coman (7); Cian Ryan (7), Conor McMahon (8), James Finn (8), Derek Corcoran (7); Fionn McGibney (7), Nicky Irwin (8); Padraic Bourke (7), Brendan McAdams (8), Niall O’Gorman (7); Mark Armitage (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (7); James Meagher (7), John Healy (7), John Hayes (8).

Reps: Cathal Ryan (7) for Niall O'Gorman (33), Darragh Tucker (7) for Armitage (45), Conor Muldoon (7) for Bourke (51), Niall O’Gorman for Muldoon (68).

Referee: Mike Scanlon