Con flex muscles to overpower Nenagh

RUGBY: Energia All-Ireland League Division 1A Round 16

Cork Constitution 42

Nenagh Ormond 19

Report: Mike McMahon at Temple Hill

Photos: Bridget Delaney

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Aidan Moynihan (Cork Constitution)

SCORERS - Cork Constitution: Tries - French, Maher (2), Hyland, Good, Moynihan. Cons - Moynihan (6).

Nenagh Ormond: Tries - Gleeson, O’Meara, Kerr. Cons - McMahon (2).

A large local crowd turned up at Temple Hill on Saturday to watch Cork Constitution defeat bottom placed Nenagh Ormond in the All-Ireland League.

Cork Con Club President and former Irish out-half Ralph Keyes led the home support and was joined in the brilliant sunshine by other familiar faces to Irish rugby fans from the former ranks of Cork Con, Munster and Ireland. Many were undoubtedly curious to see what the divisional newcomers Nenagh Ormond had to offer.

Expectant of a comfortable home win, the home crowd were somewhat startled by a strong start from Nenagh and a number of early attacks which culminated in winger Davy Gleeson going over in the left corner for the game’s first try on nine minutes. Centre Conor McMahon was wide with the difficult conversion, but it was a strong opening from the visitors.

It took all of the first quarter for the Cork men to get fully into the game, but they did so in the 20th minute when ex Munster centre Sean French broke the line impressively to race clear and dot down under the posts.

As the home side got into their stride, it was clear that they had the advantage at scrum time and Nenagh were on the receiving end of a number of dominant tackles as Con cranked up the pressure.

Despite this, Nenagh were holding up well in defence, but were hit with a quickfire try double from scrum-half Adam Maher on 34 & 36 minutes. The first came from a scrum penalty which was kicked to the corner from where Con launched a powerful driving maul. Stopped just short of the line, the live-wire scrum half picked and squirmed through the smallest of gaps to score.

With their tails up, the home side launched another attack shortly after the restart, showing some excellent handling to create a break opportunity for French, who then released Maher to jink through the scrambling defence for his second try in two minutes.

Looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat, Nenagh had to respond to have any chance come the second half and to their great credit they managed to engineer a chance for Fionn O’Meara to dive over in the corner with the last play of the half. McMahon converted to bring the score to 21-12 at the break. A strong start to the second half was absolutely essential for Nenagh to get back in the game but they got the opposite as they conceded far too easily within a minute of the resumption, flanker Peter Hyland touching down for the bonus point try.

Despite losing full back Matt Brice to a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on in that play, Nenagh enjoyed their best period of the game in the 25 minutes that followed and had numerous chances to score but could just not find the breakthrough they needed.

Nenagh brought on Dylan Murphy, Jake O’Kelly and club captain Kevin O’Flaherty to re-enforce the pack but it was replacement centre Patrick Scully who made the biggest impact, making numerous line-breaks and running strongly in a glowing cameo performance.

Having spent much of the second half defending, Con gained an entry into Nenagh territory through a penalty for a high tackle with fifteen minutes remaining and capitalized fully, replacement hooker George Good forcing his way over to effectively seal the outcome.

With the score standing at 35-12, Nenagh were now merely playing for pride. A situation they have found themselves in many times this season. Nenagh finally got a consolation score through scrum-half replacement and former Con player Luke Kerr who was in support following another fine break by Scully.

The final word went to Con out-half Aidan Moynihan who capped off an impressive individual performance with a well taken try in the last play of the game. He finished with a tally of seventeen points and a 100% return from the kicking tee.

Mingling with Peter O’Mahoney, Donnacha O’Callaghan, and others in the early evening sunshine, Nenagh Ormond fans left Temple Hill proud of another spirited performance by their team but knowing that this venue will not be on their roster next season as they play their rugby in Division 1B.

TEAMS - Cork Constitution: George Coomber; Johnny Murphy, Sean French, Eoghan Smyth, Sean Condon; Aidan Moynihan, Adam Maher; Mark Donnelly, Billy Scannell, David Good; Sean Duffy, Michael Foy; Mark Skelly, Peter Hyland, David Hyland (capt).

Reps: George Good, Luke Masters, Jacob Sheahan, Richard Thompson, Louis Kahn, Dylan Hicks.

Nenagh Ormond: Matt Brice; Davy Gleeson, Conor McMahon, Willie Coffey, Conor O’Shaughnessy; Derek Corcoran, Charlie O’Doherty; Mikey Doran, Mateo Sentous, Matthew Burke; Kevin Seymour, Fionn O’Meara; John O’Flaherty (Capt), Joe Coffey, John Brislane.

Reps: Dylan Murphy, Sean Frawley, Jake O’Kelly, Kevin O’Flaherty, Luke Kerr, Patrick Scully.

Referee: Ross Whitfield.