Ormond all but in relegation playoff after latest defeat

RUGBY: Energia All Ireland League Division 2A Round 16

Nenagh Ormond 19

Buccaneers 36

Report: Thomas Conway in Lisatunny

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Oisín McCormack (Buccaneers)

SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Coffey, Gleeson, McMahon Conv: Corcoran (1)

Buccaneers: J O’Connor, McCormack (2), R O’Connor, Booth, Illo Convs: Hanley (3)

Nenagh Ormond’s faint hopes of avoiding a relegation play-off all but dissipated last Saturday, as they suffered their eleventh loss of the season, having been convincingly outplayed by Buccaneers.

The Athlone-based club - which remain eight points adrift from second-place Cashel - are edging ever closer to securing their place in the promotion play-off, and Saturday’s bonus-point win was another precious step along that road.

Nenagh have spent much of this season searching for validation. Ormond are a team with undoubted potential, capable of producing moments of scintillating rugby with the sort of slick hands and magic movement which defines a winning side. Yet Buccaneers, too, have that ability to attack with spellbinding force.

The difference? They do so with consistency. And when they unshackle a man and break up the field, they deliver with stunning effectiveness. At least that was the case last Saturday. The game had not aged thirty seconds when Josh O'Connor bound through a channel to ground the first of the Midlands sides six tries. It was breathtakingly swift; the ball sifting across the field from left to right, winger Tom Shine delivering the final pass to the on-rushing O'Connor, who swerved in and touched down some way left of the posts. Michael Hanley watched his conversion glide too far right, but it didn't seem to matter all that much. They still had their dream start.

To concede so soon after kick-off must have been a psychological hammer-blow, but Nenagh responded with coolness and efficiency. Less than five minutes later, Willie Coffey could be seen slicing through a gap and touching down underneath the posts for a converted try.

It raised spirits, but while it might have prompted a psychological shift, there was no concrete shift in momentum. Both sides went at it, tussling for possession in between the 22 metre lines, Nenagh grinding out the odd penalty, Buccaneers’ powerful second-row Darragh Murray gaining ground whenever he was afforded the opportunity to carry.

Eventually, after fifteen minutes of stagnation, the next try arrived, Buccaneers flanker Oisín McCormack jostling in from the back of a ruck and managing to ground the ball amid a sea of bodies. He doubled his tally two minutes later, picking up a stray deflection and striding in underneath the posts.

Having already revived themselves following the first minute set-back, the brace of tries was difficult for Nenagh to stomach. Another response was required, and it eventually came on the cusp of half-time, Davy Gleeson shooting through a pocket of space and sliding over on the right wing. Nenagh were now trailing 19-12. Under pressure, occasionally outplayed, but very much still in the game.

Fionn McGibney reassumed command following his introduction at half-time, and within seconds of arrival he was engineering the attack, orchestrating each move, assessing each break-down. In the 45th minute, a disjointed Nenagh maul almost piled over in the corner, but Buccaneers somehow managed to force a turnover. It was a watershed moment.

At that point, a converted try would have levelled the game, turned the tide perhaps, but instead, Buccaneers transformed defence into attack with blistering speed. Moments later, a sublimely struck McGibney kick sent the ball bouncing precariously close to the Buccaneers try-line. Most full-backs would have scrambled the ball into hand and ran into touch for safety, but Ruaidhri Fallon opted for a different course of action. He collected the ball on the hop, looped around several Ormond shirts, and made a forty-metre progression up the field. It was a statement of individual self-confidence and collective intent.

Minutes later, Saul O’Connell unleashed another assault up the field, skimming the grass with a kick to the corner. Their next try wasn’t long coming. The ball was recycled gradually across, until eventually, Rory O’Connor spun around the last man and threw himself over the line. Hanley’s conversion caught the wind and drifted astray, but Buccaneers were now 24-12 up, and the breathing space seemed to liberate them.

The physicality of the Buccaneers pack had been noticeable throughout, but during the last fifteen minutes they started to thwart Nenagh not just with their strength, but also with their mobility. Number 8 Ciarán Booth whisked in to seal the win in the 73rd minute, and though Conor McMahon would land a blistering late try, the final act would be performed by Buccaneers. Prop Sam Illo had pummelled his way through rooks all afternoon, but in the 82nd minute he combined brute strength with brilliant athleticism, muscling his way diagonally through and making landfall halfway towards the side-line. It was a just reward for the 18.5 stone former Irish under-20, and a fitting end to a game which may help to propel Buccaneers towards Division 1B.

TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: Peter Coman (6), Davy Gleeson (7), Conor McMahon (7), Willie Coffey (7), Patrick Scully (6), Derek Corcoran (7), Nicky Irwin (6); Fergal Brislane (7), Conor Muldoon (6), Niall O’Gorman (6), Kevin O’Flaherty (7), John O’Flaherty (7), Rob Buckley (7), Evan Murphy (6), John Hayes (7).

Reps: Peter O’Connor (7) for Muldoon (37); Fionn McGibney (7) for McMahon (HT); Damien Dunne (6) for O’Gorman (47); Conor Muldoon for Brislane (70).

Buccaneers: Ruaidhrí Fallon (8), Josh O’Connor (8), Tom Shine (7), Stephen Mannion (7), Rory O’Connor (8), Michael Hanley (7), William Reilly (7); Martin Staunton (7), Declan Adamson (7), Sam Illo (8), Darragh Murray (8), Daniel Qualter (7), Oisín McCormack (9), Evan Galvin (7), Ciarán Booth (8).

Reps: Saul O’Carroll (7) for Mannion (HT); Darren Browne (7) for Adamson (43); Frank Hopkins (7) for Shine (57); Tabo Maree (7) for Galvin (72).

Referee: Andrew Mitchell