Ormond up and running to set up Cork Con test

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup 1st Round

Nenagh Ormond 40

UL Bohermian 17

Report: Thomas Conway

at New Ormond Park

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Derek Corcoran (Nenagh Ormond)

SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Doran, Burke, Scully, Corcoran, O’Shaughnessy, O’Flaherty. Cons: Kelly (5).

UL Bohemian: Tries: O’Callaghan, Ferrar. Cons: O’Gorman (1), Casey (1). Pens: O’Gorman (1)

If Nenagh Ormond’s objective was to set a tone for the rest of the season, then it was mission complete as they began the defence of the Munster Senior Challenge Cup against UL Bohemian on Saturday.

The North Tipp side weren’t quite the irresistible force that claimed the title for the first time last March, but, as first outings go for a new campaign, this was pretty successful.

A gulf in class was apparent between the two sides, and although anything other than a Nenagh victory would have sent shockwaves through the competition, Derek Corcoran’s outfit still had to go out and deliver.

They were helped, in large part, by Corcoran himself. The veteran playmaker entered the fray in the twentieth minute as a substitute for the injured Brian O’Rourke.

He would go on to play an instrumental role, sweeping through to land a crucial try just after the restart, before orchestrating another with a sublimely-weighted cross-field kick some three minutes later.

Thanks to those two tries, Nenagh surged from 21-10 up at the interval to 33-10 on 45 minutes.

There was an early season feel to proceedings at New Ormond Park on Saturday. Conditions could not have been more perfect, and yet a plethora of mistakes and injuries seemed to restrict the flow of this game.

Nenagh, dressed in suave navy blue jerseys, had four new debutants in their ranks - Sam Cusack, Darragh McSweeney, Aaron Kelly, and Portlaoise recruit Luke Kerr.

But it was an old reliable who opened the score card for the 2025/26 season, hooker Mikey Doran bustling over the line at following several phases.

Kelly, who impressed off the tee, made no mistake with the conversion.

The departure of former player and S&C coach Colm Skehan from the Nenagh set-up was widely regarded as a significant loss, but Skehan’s legacy lives on.

Nenagh even look a touch bigger this autumn. Some of that muscle and brawn can probably be attributed to a pre-season training camp in La Rochelle, but the bulk of it has been built by years of dedication.

UL Bohs, to their credit, produced a quick riposte to that early Nenagh try.

After a period of sustained pressure inside the 22, scrum-half Donnchadh O’Callaghan seized the moment with a quick tap-and-go. Within seconds he was in, leaving Darragh O’Gorman with an easy conversion.

It took just four minutes for Nenagh to restore their lead. This time it was another front-row forward, Matt Burke, with Kelly again on target to add the extras.

An O’Gorman penalty kept Bohs within touching distance, but they were reduced to fourteen-men after winger Myles Lawler was sent to the bin.

Nenagh exploited the extra man via the effervescent Patrick Scully, who shot in to secure his side’s third try. A Kelly conversion sent Nenagh 21-10 up.

The sight of an injured Brian O’Rourke being assisted to the sideline by two medics in was perhaps the grimmest moment of this game.

Willie Coffey wasn’t long after him, but in Coffey’s case the injury looked less significant - he clearly felt something, and made the judicious decision to disembark as a precaution.

The first-half might have fizzled out, but the second wasn’t long lighting up.

In this case it was Derek Corcoran who produced the fireworks, collecting the ball some 35 metres out, and whisking through with an angled run to the line.

Minutes later his sideways kick, perfectly flat, conjured the move that led to a gorgeous Conor O’Shaughnessy try.

John O’Flaherty would add Nenagh’s sixth in the 62nd minute, with Kelly nailing his fifth conversion.

If there was a negative - aside from the injuries - it perhaps came from a collapse in discipline during the final quarter.

Yellow cards for O’Shaughnessy and Kelly depleted the Nenagh ranks and left Bohs with the space to create the final score of this game, but Darren Ferrar’s eightieth minute try was little more than a consolation.

Things will only get harder from here on in, and that starts with next Saturday’s quarter final against Cork Constitution in Lisatunny; the perfect precursor to their Division 1A bow at the end of the month.

TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: Sam Cusack (7), Conor O’Shaughnessy (7), Willie Coffey (6), Patrick Scully (7), Brian O’Rourke (6), Aaron Kelly (7), Nicky Irwin (7); Mikey Doran (7), Dylan Murphy (7), Matt Burke (7), Jake O’Kelly (6), Kevin Seymour (Capt, 7), Joe Coffey (7), Evan Murphy (7), John O’Flaherty (7).

Reps: Derek Corcoran (8) for O’Rourke (20 inj); Luke Kerr (7) for W Coffey (30 inj); Fionn O’Meara (7) for O’Kelly (37 inj); Niall O’Gorman (7) for Doran (47); Robbie Tynan (7) for Burke (47); Rob Buckley (7) for J Coffey (60).

UL Bohemian: Gregory Fitzgerald (6); Myles Lawler (6), Killian Dineen (6), Paul Clancy (6), Joe Johnston (6); Darragh O’Gorman (Capt, 7), Donnchadh O’Callaghan (7); Keen Sheehy (6), Darren Ferrar (6), Jake Considine (6), Simon Staunton (6), Padraic Galvin (6), Seamus Branagh (6), Cillian McNamara (5), Liam Neilan (6).

Reps: Cian Casey (6) for O’Callaghan (49 inj), Pauric Nesbitt (6) for Sheehy (55), Sam Lynch (6) for Considine (55), Joel Rowntree (6) for Clancy (67).

Referee: Brian Bennett.