Nenagh Ormond sunk by Dolphin

RUGBY UNION: Energia All Ireland League Division 2A Round 9

Dolphin 42

Nenagh Ormond 12

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Daryl Foley (Dolphin)

SCORERS – Dolphin: Tries: Marron (2), Linn (2), Dowling, O’Connell Conv: Foley (6)

Nenagh Ormond: Tries: McGibney, Coffey Conv: McMahon

Nenagh Ormond travelled to Musgrave Park in Cork last Saturday to complete their Energia League campaign for 2021 with a fixture against Dolphin.

After what has been a largely luckless time in the league to date, Nenagh were anxious to put in a positive performance to go into the mid-season break on a bright note.

A horrid run of injuries has seen the team shorn of players in numerous key positions. At various stages the losses of Paudie Bourke, Brendan McAdams and Johnny Hayes in the front row as well as captain John O’Flaherty, John Hayes and Rob Buckley in the back five have left the team particularly short of fire power up front.

Backs wise a key player in a key position is Nicky Irwin at scrum half who has been badly missed, again through injury, over the past few games. This is before even mentioning the impact of Covid 19 which led to one fixture being called off and numerous others badly affected in terms of playing resources.

While every year has its ups and downs, this one has definitely seen more downs for the Ormond men. One can’t fault the efforts of the players who have stepped up to fill the breech during this disruption, and the experience they are gaining in clocking up minutes in a highly competitive Division 2A will undoubtedly pay off in time. However few if any teams can manage to remain competitive with such an injury profile.

The result of this turbulent time meant Nenagh went in to this game in last place in the table with only a win over UL Bohemians and two points from the Covid cancellation against Cashel to show for the year to date.

Dolphin had just three wins and a Covid enforced draw of their own from the season so far but notably had been picking up bonus points along the way, something Nenagh have not managed at all.

On a positive note, Nenagh welcomed back Willie Coffey to the starting line-up and both John Hayes’s were back in the squad having made their comebacks from injury the previous week. The hope was that all things considered this would be a close-run thing.

Ormond were competitive in the first quarter, despite conceding the first of six tries after six minutes as a lineout maul resulted in Phillip Dowling crashing over for the home side with Daryl Foley adding the conversion.

However, the Tipp men responded as full-back Fionn McGibney broke the line and ran in over the line for a try which he converted to bring the sides level for the first time.

This did not last long as Dolphin’s Tim Marron crashed over for his first try of the afternoon, which was converted by Foley; a busy opening quarter for the home side as after just under fifteen minutes the score-line stood at 14-7.

Dolphin were soon reduced down to fourteen men as Shane Scannell was yellow carded. But the home side didn’t flinch as they put on a fantastic display in defence. Before we knew it Scannell’s time in the bin was up and he returned back to the pitch.

Nenagh Ormond were last to score in the closing minutes of the first half through Willie Coffey, but Fionn McGibney missed the conversion which left the half time at 14-12 to the home side.

That only tells part of the story unfortunately though. The cruel run of injury luck for Nenagh was a feature once more with Fionn McGibney injured in the act of scoring his try. Conor McMahon took on the kicking duties to convert that score but he himself fell victim to a head knock just prior to half time and Nenagh were left extremely depleted for the second half.

This unfortunately opened the door for a Dolphin onslaught. Tries from Murray Linn (2), Craig O’Connell and a second for Tim Marron, all converted by the excellent Foley left a final scoreline of 42- 12 in favour of the Cork men.

This was a cruel fate for a Nenagh side who matched up well in the opening half and even in the midst of the second half storm were held up three times on the Dolphin line as well as conceding one of those tries from an intercept against the run of play. Events in the half pretty much summed up the luck of those in red and white for the season so far!

The hope now is that with a few weeks break over the Christmas period injuries can be rehabbed and squad depth improved to try and climb back up the table. A number of home games will be crucial with Dolphin first up on 15th January in Lisatunny.

They say that luck has a habit of evening itself out over the course of a season. From that perspective at least the only way is up for Nenagh.

TEAMS – Dolphin: Tim Marron; Thomas Scannell, Murray Linn, Craig O’Connell, Shane Scannell; Cameron O’Shaughnessy, Daryl Foley; John Leahy, Philip Dowling, David Jennings; Alex Denby, David O’Mahony; James Vaughan, Kevin Allen, Cian Fitzgerald.

Reps: Cian Scott, Daire McDonagh, Stewart Lynch, Mel Farrell, Ryan O’Herlihy.

Nenagh Ormond: Fionn McGibney, Scott Pearson, Conor McMahon, Willie Coffey, Peter Coman; Derek Corcoran, Peter Rainsford; Cathal Ryan, Ben Armitage, Damien Dunne; Kevin O’Flaherty, Kevin O’Gorman; Jack O’Keeffe, James Meagher, John Hayes.

Reps: Johnny Hayes, Conor Muldoon, Rob Buckley, John Healy, Mark Armitage.

Referee: Barry Moloney