Ormond move one win away from title with win over Ballymena

RUGBY: Energia All Ireland League Division 2A Round 14 Re-Fixture

Nenagh Ormond 52

Ballymena 7

Report: Thomas Conway in Lisatunny

MATCH STATS

Player of the Match: David Gleeson (Nenagh Ormond)

SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries - J O’Flaherty, W Coffey, Rowland, Gleeson (2), Irwin, McMahon, Healy. Convs: McMahon (6).

Ballymena: Try – Penalty

History beckons for Nenagh Ormond!

With each passing week, the North Tipperary club is growing closer to claiming the ultimate prize. Promotion is within sight. A league title is slowly shimmering into view on the horizon. Continue on this trajectory for just a little while longer, and success will almost certainly be theirs.

Saturday’s bout against Ballymena should have proven tricky. The Antrim club hails from a proud rugby playing town, a landscape that has produced individuals as fierce and fiery as the late Ian Paisley and Liam Neeson. And yet on Saturday they offered little, capitulating in the face of extreme Nenagh pressure and never quite looking like they had the capability to threaten their hosts in any real shape or form.

Ultimately, this was another tour de force from Nenagh, a consummate all-round performance which delighted a vocal home crowd on a slightly chilly, blustery day in Lisatunny.

Nenagh were electric, from start to finish, dominating in every department and quite literally tearing through their Northern Ireland opponents at every opportunity.

Their backs had a field day - David Gleeson virtually running rings around a hapless Ballymena defence and helping himself to two exquisite, superbly crafted tries. Conor McMahon - whose ability from the tee has improved immeasurably over the course of this season - was almost flawless, landing his conversions with deft precision. Truth be told, Nenagh were never in danger here, the outcome never in jeopardy.

It took the home side just four minutes to ignite, a wave of early pressure culminating in an emphatically finished John O’Flaherty try. From the back of the rook, the flanker gobbled up possession and flung himself over the line. His power and explosiveness were too much for Ballymena to handle.

Nenagh are a confident side playing confident rugby. Their backs have an ability to produce moments of pure, unadulterated magic on the front foot, and this was illustrated in the tenth minute by none other than their captain Willie Coffey. One moment they were firmly encamped near the halfway line, but within seconds David Gleeson was lurching forward. He could probably have gone it alone, but the Ballinahinch man opted unselfishly to offload, and Coffey was on standby to absorb the pass, before steering himself over the try line just underneath the posts. At that stage Nenagh had established control, and they would never relinquish their grip.

In fact, they only tightened it further. Josh Rowland was next up. The agile full-back delivered another fine showing, orchestrating the attack brilliantly from the back field, and in the 24th minute he snatched a beautifully worked, opportunist try - dancing his way down the stand side and sweeping over the line to send Nenagh further in front.

Ballymena looked visibly intimidated by their hosts. The difference in calibre and class was evident from early on, but so too was the physical gulf between both sides. Nenagh’s overall body mass must have been twice the size of their opponents. Ballymena looked frail, fragile even, by comparison.

Somewhat inevitably, Nenagh had the bonus point secured before the interval, and Gleeson was the protagonist on this occasion. The Ballinahinch man sent sparks flying everywhere with his 36th minute try, bouncing onto possession and cascading some thirty metres down the far side, before pinning down near the corner. Nenagh led 26-7 at the interval.

A Ballymena penalty try in the 32nd minute had threatened momentarily to break their momentum. Add to that two yellow cards for Jack O’Keefe and John Healy, awarded after separate infringements, and Nenagh should have had cause for concern. But they maintained their composure masterfully, and even with thirteen men looked superior to their Northern visitors.

Victory procession

The second-half was more or less a victory procession for the hosts, who continued to dominate and dismantle their opponents in scintillating fashion. Nicky Irwin inveigled his way in to land Nenagh’s fifth some fifteen minutes in, dazzling the crowd with a display of fine footwork before darting over the line.

Nenagh weren’t finished there. John Healy, evidently frustrated by his first-half sin-binning, looked desperate to make amends and eventually his moment would arrive. With 65 minutes gone, he attached himself to the end of another perfectly curated Nenagh attack. He finished with aplomb, and then watched proudly as Conor McMahon floated the conversion between the sticks with awesome technique.

Ultimately, it was David Gleeson who shone brightest. He would complete the rout in the seventieth minute, diving over acrobatically in the corner and finishing off the scoring in style. But it wasn’t just his attacking flair which impressed on Saturday afternoon. At one stage in the first-half, the 26 year-old bounced up off the surface having taken a tumble, then quickly proceeded to take down a Ballymena attacker, almost forcing a turnover. His try-scoring ability is one thing, but his persistence, and his willingness to do the unglamorous work when required, makes him stand out amongst Nenagh’s razor sharp backline.

Nenagh Ormond now have an opportunity to rest and recover before travelling to Navan to continue their title quest on Saturday, March 23rd and should they emerge with a bonus-point win, the title is theirs. At this point, it will take something special to stop them from claiming top honours. After all, this is a special team, in the midst of a special season, and they’re now within touching distance of outright league success. Brace yourself for the run-in.

TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: Josh Rowland (8); David Gleeson (9), Conor McMahon (8), Willie Coffey (8), Derek Corcoran (7); Ben Pope (7), Nicky Irwin (7); Seán Frawley (8), Dylan Murphy (8), Jack O’Keefe (7); Jake O’Kelly (7), Joe Coffey (7), John O’Flaherty (8), John Healy (7), Evan Murphy (8).

Reps: Niall O’Gorman (6) for Frawley (45); John Hayes (7) for D Murphy (53); Rob Buckley (6) for E Murphy (53); Eoin Gardiner (6) for Corcoran (65); Kevin O’Flaherty (6) for J Coffey (71).

Ballymena: Pierce Crowe (6); Michael McCrabbe (6), Rhys Irvine (6), Callum Patterson (7), Curtis Henry (6); Tom Ferguson (7), Roshan Weerathne (7); Josh Mark (5), Alex Ferguson (5), Joseph Mawhinney (5); Conor Smith (6), Paddy Browne (6); James Howe (6), James Glass (6), Adam Lamont (6).

Reps: Cillian Butler (6) for McCrabbe (47); Mark Lamont (6) for Howe (58); David Milford (6) for Mark (65).

Referee: Kieran Barry.