Ormond rally comes up short in Bateman Cup semi-final

RUGBY: Energia All-Ireland Senior Cup - Bateman Cup Semi-Final

Nenagh Ormond 29

Clontarf 34

Report: Thomas Conway at New Ormond Park, Nenagh

Photos: Odhran Ducie

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Conor Kelly (Clontarf)

SCORERS – Clontarf: Tries - Maher, Bird, Kelly, Lavin, Moloney. Cons - Kelly (3). Pen - Kelly (1).

Nenagh Ormond: Tries - J O’Flaherty, Brislane, O’Gorman, K O’Flaherty, Tynan. Cons - McMahon (2).

The Ormond Brass Band were in full tune in the build up to this historic Bateman Cup semi-final last Saturday in Lisatunny, and while their music didn’t exactly propel Nenagh Ormond to victory, at least the home side finished on a high note.

The scoreboard rarely lies and, in this case, it depicted a relatively close encounter, with just five points separating the teams at the final whistle. Clontarf will probably feel the end result was misleading. Really the Dublin side had this game won by the time Michael Moloney touched down to score their fifth try in the 53rd minute, but a late resurgence from the hosts rekindled some belief amongst their supporters. Nenagh may be on a torrid losing streak, but they have not given hope just yet.

Head Coach Derek Corcoran was sanguine about his side’s prospects afterwards and his positivity was justified. Nenagh started relatively well, then faded, faded some more, before sparking to life in the final twenty minutes. There was enough of a performance in that last quarter to suggest that they are slowly adapting to life at the elite level of Irish club rugby, as they resume the AIL against Ballynahinch next Saturday at home.

While the pack struggled at times, they started relatively well, inflicting serious pressure on the Clontarf frontline to force two early penalties in the middle third. Any momentum they might have created was quickly extinguished.

Clontarf swept in for the games first try on five minutes, out-half Conor Kelly directing the most delicately balanced of cross-field kicks into the hands of centre Peter Maher, who surged over in the corner.

Nenagh spent the ensuing ten minutes trapped within their own half but they would eventually escape in style. David Gleeson took off from inside his own 22, exploding into a gap before offloading to Argentinian prop Mateo Sentous. He showed surprising pace and agility to continue the counter, which ultimately resulted in John O’Flaherty gliding over near the posts to open Nenagh’s account.

A Kelly penalty put Clontarf back in the ascendancy, and just after the half-hour mark, they started to assert their authority. Two converted tries in the space of four minutes, the first from centre Tadhg Bird and the second by Kelly himself, shot the Dubliners into a 22-7 lead. It would remain that way at the interval, Clontarf in control.

The second half began well for Nenagh. The floodlights flickered on as John Brislane swept over to reduce the deficit to ten, but within minutes Clontarf flanker Seán Lavin had cancelled it out Brislane’s.

Clontarf’s superiority began to show. Michael Moloney snatched their fourth in a full-field break which ended with the scrumhalf picking the ball up Gaelic football style before touching down near the posts.

Now trailing 34-12, it seemed like there was no coming back from a Nenagh perspective. However, the introduction of fresh bodies from the sideline seemed to reinvigorate them. One of those fresh bodies, prop Niall O’Gorman, muscled his way over in the 58th minute and injected his side with confidence.

It took twenty minutes to register again, with captain Kevin O’Flaherty collecting a sumptuous backhand pass from sub Nicky Irwin and ploughing through near the corner flag. Another substitute, Robbie Tynan, then surged over with the clock in the red. Conor McMahon, who split the posts with his conversion, had the final say, but with five points to spare, it was Clontarf who had the last laugh.

TEAMS - Clontarf: Dylan O’Grady (7), Alex O’Grady (7), Dan Hawkshaw (7), Tadhg Bird (7), Peter Maher (8), Conor Kelly (8), Michael Moloney (8); Charlie Ward (7), Dylan Donnellan (7), Niall Smyth (8), Fionn Gilbert (7), Jim Peters (7), Paul Deeny (7), Seán Lavin (7), Jordan Coughlan (7).

Reps: Alex Tilly (7) for Deeny (53); Oran Walsh (6) for Bird (53); Sam Owens (7) for Coghlan (53); Declan Adamson (6) for Donnellan (67); Charlie Coughlan (6) for Gilbert (73).

Nenagh Ormond: Matt Brice (7), Conor O’Shaughnessy (6), Conor McMahon (6), Patrick Scully (6), David Gleeson (7), James Finn (5), Luke Kerr (6); Mikey Doran (7), Mateo Sentous (7), Darragh McSweeney (7), Kevin Seymour (7), John O’Flaherty (7), Joe Coffey (7), John Brislane (7).

Reps: Charlie O’Doherty (7) for Finn (47); Sam Cusack (7) for Brice (55); Nicky Irwin (7) for Kerr (64); Niall O’Gorman (8) for Doran (64); Dylan Murphy (6) for Sentous (64); Seán Frawley (7) for McSweeney (64); Fionn O’Meara (7) for O’Shaughnessy (68), Robbie Tynan (7) for Scully (70).

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson