Nenagh Hockey Club
Munster Senior Ladies League: Clonmel 0-5 Nenagh
On Saturday, the Senior Ladies took travelled to Clonmel for a Munster League game.
Previous encounters have historically been tense affairs in no small part due to the very differing styles of hockey.
Nenagh were well prepared and when two players were sent off in the opening minutes, the side knew they would have to keep cool heads or risk more cards. And so, they set to their task, spread the ball wide from deep and used their skill and considerable pace to get by the Clonmel defence who tackled ferociously.
Tara McTiernan ran down the wing at pace and laid a beautifully weighted pass to Aoibhinn Murphy who smashed it into the net to open the scoring in the eighth minute. Clonmel reset and launched an immediate offensive but some solid and calm defending by the back three Claire Ley, Hannah Benn & Áine Egan meant there was no way through.
Nenagh countered and Clonmel were on the back foot, scrambling back but unable to get near the forwards who passed the ball between them with accuracy and speed. A foul in the Clonmel D won Nenagh a short corner which they executed brilliantly culminating in a Murphy smash to score another goal just before the first quarter whistle.
Clonmel were by no means put off by the visitor’s dominance and they continued to chase the game, tackle fiercely, and try to disrupt the Nenagh game-plan in the second quarter. Nenagh scored another beautiful goal midway through when McTiernan again used her blistering pace to run down the wing where she laid the ball up to the penalty spot to a waiting Murphy who again smashed into the goal for 3-0 heading into half time.
The half time talk focussed on keeping cool heads so as to avoid more cards which could see the home side gain a foothold. As expected, Clonmel emerged from the break fired up and desperately seeking a score. They launched attack after attack but Nenagh's scramble defence and superb tackling by Jane Quigley kept them from getting shots away. When Clonmel won a short corner, the Nenagh runners hunted down the ball aggressively to prevent a score. Fresh legs in the form of Ellen Seymour, Oriana O'Brien, and Aoibhe McAndrew added to the Nenagh effort and the redeployment of Jane Carroll to sweeper for the injured Hannah Benn proved effective. Seymour tackled well and came away with a ball from a midfield scramble. She laid a lovely pass straight through to Jennifer Slattery who had come on in the forwards, who was one on one with the Clonmel keeper, kept a cool head and slid the ball to the right just inside the left post.
Despite being 4-0 down, Clonmel continued to fight, but the quality of the Nenagh play snuffed out their attacks. Nenagh always looked dangerous going forward and their distribution had Clonmel frequently on the back foot. Nenagh scored another brilliant goal when Ruby Benn was awarded a free in midfield. She passed the ball to McTiernan on the right wing who pushed across the D to a waiting Grace Mulrooney who turned the goalkeeper on her reverse stick side and slid it into the goal, a fantastic display of individual skill and a cool head.
The game ended 5-0 to Nenagh. Despite the scoreline it was a very competitive game with Clonmel working tirelessly. The Nenagh defence however was rock solid and there was no way through for the home side on the day.
Munster Senior Men’s League: Nenagh 6-1 Cork CofI
Having come off the wrong side of a few results of late, Nenagh had targeted this game against Cork C of I as a must-win in order to build momentum for the remaining games in the league.
With a full squad, Nenagh were well placed to put in a four quarter performance, something they have struggled with in previous games. Nenagh started well putting the visitors under pressure. A super goal by forward Luke Blackwell in the opening in minutes set the scoring in motion with Nenagh looking strong. Captain Ben Jones distributed the ball well in midfield and Nenagh looked in control. When they won a short corner towards the end of the quarter, they took no chances and James Whyte blasted it into the goal to bring the score to 2-0 heading into the second quarter.
The Cork side responded in the second quarter as they started to grow into the game. Nenagh however looked determined and Colin Muir dispossessed them time and again giving Nenagh the opportunity to counterattack. A through ball from James Whyte into the D was tapped in by a fully stretched Hugo Stanley. Nenagh were in control but the visitors had plenty of quality on their side. When they scored mid-way through the quarter to bring the score to 3-1, the pace of the game ratcheted up.
Cork CofI started the second half well, with great tackling by Jones in midfield followed by some sublime passing unlocking the Nenagh forwards who used their pace to burn past the CofI backs. Nenagh were awarded another short corner for a foul which Whyte scored again to give Nenagh a comfortable lead. Nenagh had several other opportunities in the third quarter which went just wide of the post. The cork side too had their opportunities but a Nenagh counterattack saw the ball come to Luke Blackwell who finished it well to give Nenagh a 5-1 lead.
A further goal from Robin Rynhart, recently returned to the squad was the icing on the cake for the home side. The game ended with a Nenagh camped in the visitors D where Alan Jackson missed out on a deflection that was sent just millimetres outside the right post.
Munster Under Girls 18 League: Bandon 3-0 Nenagh
Nenagh were in action in Bandon where they lost 3-0 to a very strong home side. While Nenagh had their chances and put up a strong defensive performance, Bandon managed to get through and were clinical when in front of goal. The girls will take solace from a good overall team performance as they look to their next fixture on March 15th, away again to Garryduff/C of I.
Blitzes
On Saturday, Nenagh’s U8 girls had a great day playing in a friendly blitz at Villiers School, Limerick while Nenagh's 5th class (under 12) girls played in a Munster Blitz in Thurles.