Ormond dismiss UCC with second-half surge
RUGBY: Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B Round 6
Nenagh Ormond 40
UCC 20
Report: Thomas Conway at New Ormond Park
For a few fleeting moments last Saturday afternoon in New Ormond Park, it looked as if bottom-of-the-table UCC were about to pull off the shock of the round and get one over on their old nemesis Nenagh Ormond – the same club which had so cruelly and spectacularly denied the Cork outfit promotion to Division 1A in a play-off here some eighteen months ago.
Somehow, the college boys had clawed their way to a half-time lead and they had begun the second-half with a sense of vigour and verve.
In the end, however, their challenge fizzled out. Matt Brice grounded Ormond’s third try to snatch back the lead. The North Tipp side then assumed full control. Thirty minutes and three further tries later, with the light already fading in Lisatunny, the Nenagh Ormond players were walking off the astroturf to a chorus of applause, having just registered their fourth win of the campaign, shooting them to third-place in the Division 1B table, behind Naas and Highfield respectively.
Oli Ayling’s stoppage-time try was the ideal note on which to finish from a Nenagh perspective. It was the perfect ending, but Ormond had also produced the perfect start, hooker Ignacio Failla getting the last contact on the ball following a brilliantly orchestrated maul deep inside the UCC 22 at the town end.
What happened in between those two scores was strangely absorbing. It was a game riddled with injuries, stoppages, yellow cards and mistakes, but it was not short on quality either.
The first real example of such was a superbly athletic Willie Coffey catch straight from the Nenagh kick-off. It set the tone and for the next few minutes Ormond showed excellent intent, with the play eventually culminating in Failla’s try. Young Darragh Gleeson clipped over the ensuing conversion and it was such a pity to see him limping down the sideline with an injury some moments later, but he has plenty of time to recover and improve.
Sam Cusack, another player on a gradually rising trajectory, delivered the finish for Nenagh’s second try, latching onto the end of a sweeping crossfield move which featured both Patrick Scully and the aforementioned Brice. Cusack surged into the corner, losing his footing but still making the try-line in a spectacular rolling movement. Conor McMahon then nailed the first of his four terrific conversions, drifting the ball over from the wing.
14-0 up with fourteen minutes played, Nenagh could not have asked for a better opening and really, they should have kicked on from there.
However, credit is due to UCC for the manner in which they rebounded. For the next few minutes they pummeled the Nenagh defensive line, launching a series of phases inside the Ormond 22. Flanker Eddie Dooley eventually made the breakthrough on 17 minutes, and although the Cork side couldn’t convert, they had established a route back into the game.
There was a passage of play just after the half-hour mark in which the ball seemed to be spilling everywhere, with possession changing hands and changing sides in a frenzy of activity around the halfway line.
It presaged the chaos which was about to follow. In a mad period of play between the 37th minute and eighth minute of first-half stoppage-time, Nenagh were issued with two yellow cards (with Aaron Moloney and later Matthew Burke both sent to the bin); UCC knocked over a penalty; there were several injury interruptions; and finally, UCC centre Daire O’Callaghan swept over for a try on the far wing.
The final act of the half was a brilliantly executed conversion courtesy of full-back Gene O’Leary Kareem. It sent UCC in front by the minimum, 15-14, and left Nenagh wondering what had just happened.
UCC started the second-half brightly, but their momentum was arrested by a hard-worked Nenagh turnover in the centre of the field which seemed to energise the home team.
From that point on, Ormond were sharper, more efficient and just generally superior in every department. Brice’s 47th minute try was teed up by a gorgeous crossfield kick by Moloney, and Patrick Scully then extended Nenagh’s advantage with another try on 53 minutes.
The front-row of O’Keeffe, Failla and Burke started to gradually dominate the scrum and on 61 minutes, the latter of that trio deservedly got his name on the scoreboard, with McMahon converting effortlessly from the far wing.
With Nenagh now leading 35-19, the result was a foregone conclusion and the game lulled towards the final-whistle. It fell to Ayling to provide the finishing touch in the second minute of stoppage-time.
The AIL now settles into a three week break. With one-third of the league season completed, the top of 1B is exceptionally tight. There is little margin for error, and Nenagh’s next few games – which include Blackrock at home, City of Armagh away, as well as home and away clashes against Garryowen – will almost certainly prove crucial.
TEAMS – Nenagh Ormond: Matt Brice (8), Sam Cusack (7), Willie Coffey (7), Patrick Scully (8), Conor McMahon (8), Darragh Gleeson (7), Aaron Moloney (8); Jack O’Keeffe (7), Ignacio Failla (8), Matthew Burke (8), Kevin Seymour (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (8), Oli Ayling (8), Robbie Tynan (7), John O’Flaherty (7).
Reps: Liam Walsh (7) for Gleeson (9 inj); Jake O’Kelly (7) for K O’Flaherty (59); John Brislane for Tynan (59); Luke Graham (6) for Cusack (73); Jack Devanny (6) for Failla (75); Richie Whelan (6) for O’Keeffe (75).
UCC: Conall Cournane (6), Gene O’Leary Kareem (8), Cian Corkery (7), James O’Leary (6), Daire O’Callaghan (7), Declan Fitzgerald (6), Christopher Barrett (7); Daniel McCarthy (7), Stephen O’Shaughnessy (7, capt), Alex Hamilton (6), Dylan Mullen (7), Tom Murray (6), Eddie Dooley (7), Ted O’Callaghan (7), Casey Whelan (6).
Reps: David Nowak (6) for Mullen (21 inj), Darragh Prenter (6) for O’Shaughnessy (62); Seán Fitzpatrick (6) for McCarthy (62); Joseph Barrett (6) for Dooley (70); James Wixted (7) for Corkery (75).
Referee: Padraic Reidy