Ormond overcome red card to get off to winning start

RUGBY: Community Series Munster Conference 2 Round 1

 
Nenagh Ormond     31 
Clonmel         8 
 
Report: Enda Treacy in Lisatunny
 
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: John Hayes (Nenagh Ormond)
SCORERS - Nenagh Ormond: Tries - Bourke, K O’Gorman, Hayes, Irwin, Coffey Cons - McGibney (3) 
Clonmel: Try - Hogan Pen: Ryan 

The beginning of a new look league season and fresh set of circumstances started extremely well for Nenagh Ormond as they registered a solid and dominant win over Tipperary opposition Clonmel in the opening round of the new Munster Community Series last Saturday afternoon. 

A comprehensive five-try performance from Ormond will be a welcome confidence booster for a team that have found wins like this hard to come by in the last few seasons, and there were plenty of positives to take across the board. 

First half dominance in which Paudie Bourke, Kevin O’Gorman and Willie Coffey all crossed the whitewash paved the way for a solid team effort, and by the time Fionn McGibney received a red card in the 32nd minute, Nenagh had already inflicted too much scoring damage for Clonmel to recover from, as the South Tipp side struggled to create chances. 

With the new format in place it was always an unknown how players would react with the flair of AIL competition gone for the next few months, but Nenagh seemed to approach the game with a lot of vigor and intent and they proved their superior divisional prowess against a Clonmel side who are making their way in the AIL after promotion in early 2019. 

But the south Tipp outfit started positively and took the lead in the eighth minute from a close-range penalty from Philip Ryan after a Nenagh infringement at the breakdown, but it didn’t take long for Ormond to respond as they produced some good phase play and managed to set Willie Coffey through after Fionn McGibney gave the centre a good flat pass, to power past a Clonmel tackle and run under the posts – McGibney adding the easy extras after 18 minutes. 

Clonmel were reduced to fourteen men after prop John Gallagher was adjudged to have obstructed a Nenagh kick-chase and was sent to the bin. The home side were quick to take advantage of the opposition’s numerical deficit; the resulting scrum penalty paying dividends for Nenagh as John Hayes punched an initial hole from the back of the scrum which gave Kevin O’Gorman a small gap at ruck time from which to snipe over from close range to score and extend Nenagh’s lead to 14-3 in the 28th minute. 

Tails were up from a Nenagh perspective and two-minutes later they were punishing Clonmel with mismatches in midfield, this time Peter Coman breaking the defensive line before offloading to Davy Gleeson who showed great wheels down the right wing to bring Nenagh just shy of the try line, but in the following phase a forward pod sent Paudie Bourke bundling over the line to send the home side into a commanding 21-3 lead at the half hour mark. 

A positive end to the half was needed for Clonmel to get back into the game as they were looking very open with the man disadvantage, and when Fionn McGibney was sent off after clothes-lining a Clonmel player. 

The visitors returned to their full complement before half time, they got a badly needed lifeline when they made their way to 10-metres from the Nenagh line, and with the home side repeatedly being penalized at the put-in they eventually made Nenagh pay for Luke Hogan to power over after a quick pass from Alex Sheahan; the half time score ending with Ormond leading 21-8. 

There was a small chink of light added to the Clonmel cause with the man advantage and later try, but Nenagh showed a lot of control and confidence in how they managed the game in the second half and got what was essentially the clinching score in the 52nd minute; Nicky Irwin the beneficiary of some excellent carries from the pack as Kevin O’Flaherty sent the scrum half through to breeze over and score to extend the lead to 26-8. 

The pressure was off now and the game went into a period of stalemate around the midfield area as Clonmel looked to stave off a hammering, keeping it in hand trying to get through the Nenagh defensive, but Ormond were looking teak tough in contact and anytime they re-gained possession they looked dangerous. 

John Hayes continued to show his class when he very nearly paved the way for Willie Coffey to score his second but was adjudged to have moved after being tackled initially; but Nenagh did finish with a fifth try in the 65th minute when Hayes capped off a fine performance with a big physical try, smashing through a couple of Clonmel defenders to touch down as Nenagh emptied the bench to see out the remaining minutes and get their campaign off to the perfect start as they head to Midleton for round 2 next Saturday.

TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: Peter Coman, Ruairi O’Brien, Patrick Scully, Willie Coffey, Davy Gleeson, Fionn McGibney, Nicky Irwin; Paudie Bourke, Dylan Murphy, Niall O’Gorman, Kevin O’Gorman, Kevin O’Flaherty, John O’Flaherty, Evan Murphy, John Hayes. 
Reps: Jake O’Kelly for K O’Gorman (53); Conor McMahon for Scully (53); Fergal Brislane for Bourke (53); Peter Rainsford for Coffey (65); Aidan Doyle for N O’Gorman (65); Paudie Bourke for John O’Flaherty (78 inj). 
Clonmel: Philip Ryan, Greg Carroll, Luke Hogan, Andrew Daly, Ciaran Pearson, Luke Noonan, Alex Sheahan; Niall Campion, Martin Altamirano, David O’Gorman, Tony Cantwell, Neville Melbourne, John Gallagher, Diarmuid Delaney, Ciaran Burke. 
Reps: Eddie Phelan for Ryan (26); Ryan for Phelan (reversed, 36); Keelan McDonald for Pearson (45); Dylan Cadogan for Sheahan (59); Ian Cunningham for O’Gorman (59); Billy O’Kelly for Campion (59). 
Referee: Richard Kerr (IRFU).