Ormond seal AIL League title in style
Nenagh Ormond might have been denied the All-Ireland League Division 2A title a week previous, but it worked out much better to seal it at home as they gave the large crowd of supporters a glorious day under blue skies to confirm themselves as champions.
RUGBY: Energia All Ireland League Division 2A Round 17
Nenagh Ormond29
MU Barnhall12
Report: Shane Brophy at New Ormond Park
Photo: Bridget Delaney
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Willie Coffey (Nenagh Ormond)
SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries – Corcoran, Healy, W Coffey (2), Scully. Convs – Rowland (2)
MU Barnhall: Tries – Murphy, Olaosebikan. Conv – Doggett (1)
Nenagh only needed one point to secure the title, and bar that denying their opponents a bonus-point win and from mid-way through the second half when the second part of that scenario didn’t look like happening due to a strong Ormond defence, the title was as good as sealed.
However, Nenagh Ormond put the tin-hat on the game, and indeed their season with a fitting finale in injury time, firstly with centre Patrick Scully benefitting from a knock-on by MU Barnhall in their own 22 to barrel over for the bonus-point try which confirmed their status as champions.
There was still time for more as captain Willie Coffey gathered possession on half-way and in his abrasive style, broke through two attempted tackles to touch down for the final score with the final play of the game as the celebrations could finally begin.
It was a fitting end to a dominant campaign for Nenagh who have won fourteen of their seventeen games, and are crowned champions with a game to spare, and can use the final game against UL Bohemians to blood some fringe players, if they so wish, as they plan for life in the second tier next year where they will come up against teams with players on provincial squads, while Nenagh Ormond will also have access to them if they wish to link up with the North Tipp club.
But, for the moment they can basked in the glow of a fine season where they were by a long way the best team in the division, further confirmed by easily accounting for second placed Barnhall on Saturday, by all means not a fluid performance but a game they never looked like losing.
From the off, Nenagh were determined to be on the front foot, with Derek Corcoran’s kicking making full benefit of the strong breeze. Not even the loss of Conor McMahon with an ankle injury in the second minute could deter them as they crossed for their opening try three minutes later with Willie Coffey, David Gleeson and Jack O’Keefe making the crucial yards before the ball was moved back across field where Barnhall were short in numbers with Corcoran easily touching down.
With McMahon off the field and Ben Pope ruled out through injury, one wondered would the absence of a reliable place-kicker hurt Nenagh but not so as Josh Rowland stepped up to the task with two successful conversions, the second in the fifteenth minute when John Healy dotted down following a strong scrum on the 22 with Evan Murphy taking from the base to draw in Barnhall defenders from where Healy finished off the move.
At 14-0, it looked as if Nenagh could get the bonus-point they needed by half time but maybe the anxiety to do that led to handling errors, and from the mid-way point of the half, Barnhall dominated up to half time. They were helped by a harsh sin-binning for Ormond winger David Gleeson who was penalised for a deliberate knock-on close to his own line but he made a legitimate attempt with two hands to intercept the ball. It was a strange call considering the referee didn’t award a penalty-try with the yellow card if he believed it stopped a try.
However, that try wasn’t long in coming as a sustained period of play from the penalty saw Dan Murphy cross over under the posts with Nick Doggett converted as the sides went in at half time with Nenagh leading 14-7.
The second half was a pretty turgid affair, a litany of handling errors from both sides meaning there was little flow, with a brief period of quality coming in the form of Nenagh’s third try on 54 minutes as the O’Flaherty brothers, John & Kevin, made the strong carries from where Evan Murphy made the crucial incision before offloading to Willie Coffey on the 22 and there was no stopping the Nenagh captain from scoring for an unconverted score.
MU Barnhall piled on the pressure again with their best opportunity of a second try coming in the 70th minute but scrum-half Tim Lambe dropped the ball over the line as he was about to score. It was a huge let-off and Barnhall lost a lot of belief from that as the remaining minutes played out with Nenagh knowing the title was theirs and Barnhall having to settle for the playoffs.
They did manage a late try from excellent flanker Abdul Olaosebikan before Nenagh’s late try salvo to put the seal on a title-winning campaign.
TEAMS – Nenagh Ormond: Josh Rowland (7); David Gleeson (7), Conor McMahon (NR), Willie Coffey (9), Conor O’Shaughnessy (6); Derek Corcoran (8), Nicky Irwin (8); Seán Frawley (7), Dylan Murphy (7), Jack O’Keefe (8); Jake O’Kelly (6), Kevin O’Flaherty (8); John O’Flaherty (7), John Healy (7), Evan Murphy (8).
Reps: Patrick Scully (7) for McMahon (2 inj); Colm Skehan (7) for O’Keefe (29); Mikey Doran (7) for Frawley (29); Joe Scully (7) for O’Kelly (HT); Jake O’Kelly for Healy (55 inj); Eoin Gardiner (NR) for Irwin (80); Nicky Irwin for Corcoran (80+3).
MU Barnhall: Conor Duggan (6); Sean Sexton (6), Sean Higgins (6), Nick Doggett (7), Conor Lacey (6); Adam Chester (6), Tim Lambe (7); Keith Farrell (6), Cathal Duff (7), Darragh Bellanova (6); Luke Callinan (6), Ciaran Enright (6); Dan Murphy (7), Abdul Olaosebikan (7), Shane Stokes (6).
Reps: Jack Castles (6) for Bellanova (45); Fergus Stanley (6) for Murphy (45); JP Botha (6) for Farrell (45); Dan Murphy for Olaosebikan (80+4 inj).
Referee: Oisin Quinn