New look Ormond get UL lesson 

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Cup Round 1

 

UL Bohemian         31
Nenagh Ormond   12

Report: Enda Treacy in University of Limerick
 

MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Ed Kelly (UL Bohemian)
SCORERS - UL Bohemian: Tries: McNamara, Rowesome, O’Shea, penalty try; Cons: Byrne (4) Pens: Byrne (1)
Nenagh Ormond: Tries: J O’Flaherty, G O’Gorman Cons: McGibney (1)

A below par performance from Nenagh Ormond saw them exit the Munster Senior Cup at the first hurdle as they fell to a far more clinical and dominant UL Bohemian side last Saturday.
This performance had the hallmarks of a Nenagh team still in the throes of pre-season work, as they looked heavy legged and slow to get to match pace, with a number of fresh faces getting their first taste of competitive action as the new league season looms.
And with the beginning of the new season so close, Nenagh management look to have turned to a mixture of youth and old faces to bring fresh impetus into a team that was on the cusp of relegation before the premature end to last season.
The return of Ruairi O’Brien after a five-year absence, along with Conor McMahon, Peter Rainsford and Paddy Finn from the youth system added freshness to the side, while Paudie Bourke and Kyle Cahir have all been signed up for the year, and the performance was reminiscent of a team that haven’t had the opportunity to get sufficient games under their belt.
UL Bohs were in cruise control for the whole game and looked the far slicker outfit with their pack dominating the forward battle which gave them vast swaths of territorial dominance, particularly in the first half as they were camped in the Nenagh half for the whole 40 minutes.
What was clear from early on was that UL were in the mood to put down a marker and turned down several early penalty opportunities to instead kick to the corner, and eventually this paid dividend in the 17th minute when they claimed the line out before switching play down the near side to send Jamie McNamara over to touch down.
John O’Flaherty missed a good ten minutes of play in that time after taking a heavy knock to the head from a Darragh O’Grady high shoulder tackle, which resulted in a sin-binning for the UL back row, and this definitely hurt Nenagh as they missed that leadership as the home side took control of the half.
A Harry Byrne penalty sailed over from close range after yet another Nenagh infringement at the breakdown in the 23rd minute and UL’s second try soon followed when they found themselves dominating the Nenagh scrum on the 5-metre line and repeated wheeling from the Ormond pack eventually led to the referee running under the posts for a penalty try.
The penalty concessions were killing Nenagh’s efforts and this was firmly compounded two minutes from the break when Kevin O’Gorman gave away a penalty too many as the referee lost patience to bin the second row and put Nenagh a man and 17 points behind going into the second period.
Straight from the kick off, UL essentially ended Nenagh’s chances with a magnificent try when fly-half Harry Byrne scythed through the visitors defensive line to wade deep into the Nenagh half, and when the ball was recycled quickly to Darragh O’Gorman who applied the killer pass inside to Teddy Rowesome who had enough momentum to fall over the line and settle the contest.
Pride was at stake for Nenagh now and they needed to produce something to take some positives from the game for the season ahead and just a few minutes later they finally put some meaningful attacking play together, as a penalty into the UL eventually led to concerted phases and this led to an overload on the right wing where Ger O’Gorman fended off the final defender to touch down in the corner - conversion missed to make it 24-5 to Bohs.
Play became a lot more fluid after that for Nenagh and they started to gain a bit of confidence in contact and playing through the hands thereafter, and they got a bigger shot in the arm in the 64th minute when UL substitute Richie Wallace received a red card for a reckless high tackle on Fionn McGibney, as Ormond came looking for more scores.
And the resulting set of play from the Nenagh penalty yielded a second try for the visitors as their first use of the rolling maul seen the pack power over the line for John O’Flaherty to touch the ball down at the back of the pack to pull UL within touching distance.
But that’s as close as Nenagh would get to Bohs on the scoreboard and with everyone getting game time at this stage, it became more of an exercise in giving minutes to the squad and with Bohs dominant in the final ten minutes, they sealed the win with a late, late Niall O’Shea try to see off their opponents and secure passage to the next round.
For Nenagh Ormond, it is back to training as they build-up to the opening round of the Munster Community Series at home to Clonmel on Saturday 26th September.

TEAMS - UL Bohemian: Darragh O’Gorman; Colin Ryan, Paul Clancy, Mike Mullally, Jamie McNamara; Harry Byrne, Alan Kiely; Joey Conway, David O’Connor, Philip Poillot; Sean Seymour, Ed Kelly; Niall Queally, Teddy Rowesome, Darragh O’Grady.
Reps: Pauric Nesbitt for Poillot (31); Richie Wallace for Rowesome (47); Ian Condell for Queally (47); Poillot for Nesbitt (53); Kian Regan for Conway (53); Niall O’Shea for Kiely (58); Joe Bennett for O’Connor (58).
Nenagh Ormond: Peter Coman; Ruairi O’Brien, Conor McMahon, Patrick Scully, Ger O’Gorman; Fionn McGibney, Nicky Irwin; Paudie Bourke, Dylan Murphy, Niall O’Gorman; Kevin O’Gorman, Kevin O’Flaherty; Jack O’Keefe, Jake O’Kelly, John O’Flaherty.
Reps: Fergal Brislane for N O’Gorman (HT); Kyle Cahir for O’Keefe (63); Peter Rainsford for Irwin (65); Jack O’Keefe for K O’Gorman (74); John Kelly for Murphy (74); Cathal Ryan for Bourke (74).
Referee: Chris Harrington