Ormond find groove late to progress to quarter finals of Munster Junior Cup
RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Junior Cup Round 4
Killarney 7
Nenagh Ormond 17
Report: Enda Murphy in Killarney
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Tom Crofts (Nenagh Ormond)
SCORERS - Killarney: Try – Clifford. Con - Grealy.
Nenagh Ormond: Tries - Finn, Healy, Tynan. Con – Gleeson (1).
Nenagh Ormond 2nd XV travelled to Killarney on Sunday for a round of 16 match in the Munster Junior Cup.
Conditions on the trip south were very poor but did ease somewhat as the game kicked off with Nenagh having a strong wind assisting them in the opening half against the mid-table team in division 2 of the Munster Junior League.
However, some early handling errors gave possession to Killarney, and they relished taking the battle to Nenagh. This resulted in much of the opening quarter being played between the two 10-metre lines. On the rare occasions Nenagh did get into the Killarney 22, a lack of cohesion and support play allowed the home side to turn over possession.
The deadlock was finally broken on 21 minutes when a lovely bridge pass from Tom Crofts found James Finn on the edge where he finished excellently from ten metres out. The difficult conversion was missed leaving the score at 5 – 0 to the visitors.
One would have expected Nenagh to push on bolstered by this breakthrough but instead it was Killarney that dominated proceedings for the next ten minutes. A hack through into the Nenagh 22 was not dealt with resulting in a Killarney scrum seven metres out from Nenagh’s try line. Killarney moved the ball wide off the scrum and their centre Tomas Clifford scored all too easily. Out-half Donnchadh Grealy added the extra two giving the hosts a 7-5 lead.
Nenagh pushed hard for another score but just couldn’t get anything to work for them in the face of ferocious pressure from Killarney. The referee blew for half time with Killarney maintaining their two point lead and one could not argue that they did not deserve it considering the intensity they brought to the game which was lacking in the Nenagh side. At this stage, Nenagh were looking worried knowing the elements would be against them in the second half.
To Nenagh’s credit they upped the ante in the second period. The introduction of John Healy in the backs and Mateo Sentous to the backrow brought some much-needed physicality, and others on the field followed in their footsteps. The Nenagh lineout and maul was becoming a major weapon too and probably turned the game in their favour.
While there was no addition to the score for the next thirty minutes, it was Nenagh that looked the likelier to add to their tally. A nice break out of defence by Darragh Gleeson and Sam Cusack brought Nenagh to withing five metres of the Killarney line. A quick pass off the back of the ruck hit a slowly retreating Killarney player in what could possibly have resulted in a penalty try but instead ended in a scrum to Killarney for a knock-on and that chance was gone.
Nenagh continued to probe and another good run by Sam Cusack resulted in a penalty. The ball was despatched to the sideline ten metres out and an excellent maul was collapsed by the home team short of the try line. Nenagh went to the sideline again and this time John Healy broke away to score from close range. Nenagh now led 10-5.
Killarney tried valiantly but Nenagh’s defence was resolute. They broke up field again and another penalty was won and kicked to the corner. This time it was Robbie Tynan who secured the try at the back of the maul. Joseph Gleeson added the difficult conversion and Nenagh now led 17-7 approaching full time.
Nenagh comfortably held out for the last few minutes, and now have a home quarter final to look forward to against Old Christians who had toppled Young Munster 40-21. That fixture is set for Sunday, April 12th, and Nenagh know they have a lot of work to do if they are going to progress further.
TEAMS - Killarney: Harry Kelly; Diarmuid Carr, Tomas Clifford, Adam Walsh, Finn Kennelly; Donnchadh Grealy, Paul O’Sullivan; Colin McCarthy, Craig McKenzie Vass, Alex O’Leary; John McCarthy, Paul Moynihan; Matthew McAuliffe, Padraic Talbot, Aaron Jones.
Reps: Jake Leahy, Ciaran O’Brien, Alan Mulligan, Eoin Gleeson, Ciaran Doyle, Brendan Fuller, Liam Randles.
Nenagh Ormond: James Finn; Brehon O’Donnell, Sam Cusack, Brian O’Rourke, Ryan Thompson; Darragh Gleeson, Tom Crofts; Richie Whelan, Jack Devanny, Niall O’Gorman; Cillian Ryan, Kevin O’Gorman; Rob Buckley, Robbie Tynan, John Brislane (capt).
Reps: Mateo Sentous, Ivan Struzia, Jake O’Kelly, John Healy, Davy Corcoran, Joseph Gleeson, James Meagher.
Referee: Liam Conway.