Ormond sparkle into the New Year
January is a difficult month for most. Returning to the daily grind is never easy, but when it comes to Nenagh Ormond and the All Ireland League, there was an inescapable sense around Lisatunny last Saturday that it feels good to be back.
Why wouldn’t it when your team is playing this kind of rugby - when David Gleeson is dazzling spectators with ethereal footwork and Conor McMahon is knocking over kicks from all sorts of angles.
Following this latest triumph - a comprehensive victory over a lacklustre Navan outfit - Nenagh now sit fifth in the table, level on points with MU Barnhall who are in the final playoff spot, and just three adrift off third-place Cashel. The reasons to be positive are multitudinous. Keep this form up and the play-offs are a genuine possibility, not just a pipe dream.
Prior to last weekend’s encounter, Navan sat two places ahead of Nenagh in the table, and yet, by around 4.00pm on Saturday, Nenagh’s supremacy over the visitors had been made vividly evident. Granted, the Meath club probably had an off-day - they failed to generate any real momentum going forward while their pack looked disjointed and understrength.
Really and truly however, this game was illustrative of what Nenagh Ormond are capable of when the juices start to flow. They managed the game brilliantly, executed with precision, and seemed to retain their smoothness despite the horrendous conditions.
And the weather really was appalling, so much was so that the floodlights were called into action midway through the second-half. The rain was spraying down in sheets, the wind was billowing across the field from the stand side, and visibility had been reduced to almost zero. For a period, it felt like Armageddon had finally arrived, but Nenagh took little notice. They simply kept on playing and finished the job like they started it - in style.
It took the home side a mere one minute and 35 seconds to register, and it was their talismanic winger David Gleeson who delivered the goods. His shimmering side-step completely befuddled several Navan players on the 22, and once he had created the gap, he zipped through it with a wry smile almost plastered across his face. Conor McMahon nailed a moderately difficult conversion, and Nenagh were up and running.
What followed was a lengthy period of fragmented and topsy-turvy rugby, play concentrated between both 22 metre lines, Navan occasionally threatening but never really posing serious danger, Nenagh doing well to repel them but failing to progress any great distance up the field either.
The Meath side probably had the upper hand during this period, certainly in terms of possession, but they never quite managed to make the vital incision.
It was Nenagh who were next to strike, Conor McMahon on this occasion, steaming across the try-line on after a flowing move which emanated directly from a Mikey Doran lineout. Sure enough, he added the extras and shoved Nenagh 14-0 ahead with the clock ticking towards 28 minutes.
Although Simone Ragusi would get Navan off the mark with a penalty on the cusp of half-time, Nenagh retained a comfortable advantage at the interval. They looked confident and in control, like a team following a fine-tuned plan, and doing so to perfection.
The critical juncture arrived in the 51st minute. David Gleeson’s second try had a hint of good fortune to it. After all, the ball bounced beautifully in his favour, but the Ballinahinch winger demonstrated razor sharp instincts to snatch the flying oval, before cascading through to touch down underneath the posts.
That put the game beyond Navan, and from there the conditions deteriorated, the floodlights cranked into action, and a war of attrition began in the centre of the field. Nenagh’s final two tries, touched down by James Finn and Rob Buckley, were classic acts of opportunism.
Navan would also manage to score twice in the dying moments, and while both scores were well finished, each acted as a mere consolation. Ultimately, it was too little too late. Nenagh had wrapped up proceedings long previously and had probably turned their attention to next week’s outing - a reverse of the same fixture.
The team might be the same, but the challenge could be very different. Navan will undoubtedly be seeking vengeance. Nenagh will be looking to further bolster their momentum. It should be an intriguing battle, but if Nenagh can emulate last Saturday’s performance, then the North Tipp club will surely prevail.
TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: James Finn (7), Cian Ryan (7), Willie Coffey (7), John Healy (7), David Gleeson (8), Conor McMahon (8), Nicky Irwin (7); Mikey Doran (8), Dylan Murphy (8), Jack O’Keefe (8), Jake O’Kelly (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (7), Rob Buckley (7), John O’Flaherty (8), John Hayes (8).
Reps: Niall O’Gorman (7) for O’Keefe (43), Joe Coffey (7) for O’Kelly (57 inj), Derek Corcoran (6) for Irwin (70), John Brislane (6) for Hayes (76).
Navan: Rory Gordon (6), Seán Walsh (7), Evan Dixon (7), Ben McEntagart (6), Paddy Fox (6), Simone Ragusi (7), Ben Stephens (7); Liam Carroll (6), David Clarke (6), Jordan Finney (6), Eoghan Noonan (7), Conor Hand (7), Leon Akopian (7), Conor Farrell (6), Hardus Van Eeden (7).
Reps: Shane Faulkner (7) for Fox (HT); Mark Farrell (7) for Finney (43); Harry Hester (6) for Clarke (50); Leigh Jackson (6) for Conor Farrell (67).
Referee: Barry Maloney