Ormond grind their way to winning start over Old Crescent

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Round 1

Old Crescent 15

Nenagh Ormond 17

Report: Mike McMahon at Takumi Park, Limerick

Nenagh Ormond got the new season off to a winning start with a hard-fought victory over Limerick neighbours Old Crescent in round one of the Munster Senior Challenge Cup on Thursday night.

The last time these two met was in the final of the same competition in March of 2025 when Nenagh also came out on top to win the trophy for the first time in their history.

Since then, Nenagh have tasted rugby at the top level of division 1A of the AIL while Old Crescent were demoted to division 2B south at the end of last season.

Persistent rain throughout made conditions tricky at the Rosbrien venue with the greasy ball causing issues for both teams, particularly at line-out time.

Although Nenagh would have started as warm favourites, it was evident from the start that this was going to be a keenly-fought tie, with the home side very much up for the contest.

The visitors probably shaded the early exchanges before an excellent kick to the corner gave Old Crescent good field advantage on eight minutes. A spilled ball from the line-out resulted in a 5-metre scrum for the home side and they took full advantage of the opportunity, putting winger Junior Okafor over in the corner. The conversion was pulled just wide but Crescent were off to a promising start.

Spurred into action, Nenagh began to assert a bit of authority on the game, particularly at scrum time, where they were totally dominant. A series of scrum penalties led firstly to Crescent replacing both starting props and then a yellow card to replacement, and former Nenagh player Sean Frawley.

Things were looking a little ominous for the home side but they showed excellent resolve in defence and Nenagh were finding it hard to break them down. The dam finally burst at the start of the second quarter when new recruit, flanker Oli Ayling touched down after concerted pressure under the Crescent posts.

The remainder of the first half was evenly enough balanced with excellent home defence and handling errors from both sides in the greasy conditions as the rain continued to fall.

Although leading 7-5 at half-time and looking the stronger of the two teams, Nenagh were consistently repelled by spirited and well organised defence from the home side who clearly believed that their chance would come.

It did indeed arrive when on 48 minutes, after winning a scrum penalty of their own, they kicked for the corner and forced their way over through second rower Ciaran Heagney. With the conversion successful from out-half Evan Cusack, Crescent now led 12-5 and were growing in confidence.

Nenagh finally got back on terms from an unstoppable line-out maul on the hour and when the conversion from out wide was expertly slotted by new Kiwi out-half Jonty Stewart, they led once again going into the final quarter.

The outcome was finally decided on four penalties, three for the home side and one for Nenagh. Crescent’s Ben Daly missed a very kickable effort on 65 minutes but was successful ten minutes later to give his side a slender 15-14 lead going into the last five minutes.

Stewart maintained his 100% record with an excellent strike from 40-metres to regain the lead for Nenagh but there was still time for one more penalty for the home side – a difficult kick from wide out to the left which drifted across the posts and wide.

After a difficult end to last season, Old Crescent will likely not be too disappointed by this game showing in a match they could easily have won.

For Nenagh Ormond, they will host Highfield in the second round next Saturday and will need to show much improvement if they are to progress further in the competition.

Player of the Match: Jonty Stewart (Nenagh Ormond)

Old Crescent: Jed O’Dwyer; Timothy Duggan, Brian Molloy, Jason Aylward, Junior Okafor; Evan Cusack, Gary Fitzgerald; Joe Rickard, Alex McNamara, Evan Creaven, Ciaran Heagney, John Moloney, Rowan Brady, James McKeogh.

Reps: Cian Kennedy, Sean Frawley, Oisin Toland, David Rickard, Jamies Duggan, Ben Daly.

Nenagh Ormond: Sam Cusack; Matthew Brice, Conor McMahon, Patrick Scully, Brian O’Rourke; Jonty Stewart, Yury Litvin; Ivan Struzia, José Ignacio Failla Del Francese, Matthew Burke; Kevin O’Flaherty, Kevin Seymour; Oliver Ayling, Robbie Tynan, John O’Flaherty.

Reps: Taylor Coles, Richie Whelan, Jack O’Keeffe, Cillian Ryan, Evan Brophy, Darragh Gleeson, Keelan Dunne.

Referee: Tomas O’Sullivan.