Ormond remain perfect following road win

RUGBY: Energia Munster Community Conference 2 Round 2 

 

Midleton                   17   
Nenagh Ormond     55

Report: Brian Geraghty in Midleton

MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Nicky Irwin (Nenagh Ormond)
SCORERS – Midleton: Tries - Farnham, Obersby, Casey Cons - Lee 
Nenagh Ormond: Tries - Scully, Irwin (2), K O’Flaherty (2), Murphy, Coman, O’Brien, Hayes Conv - McMahon (4) Irwin (1).

Nenagh Ormond made the journey to East Cork last Saturday to play Midleton in round 2 of the Munster Community Series and were comfortable winners, scoring nine tries in the process. 

The visitors dismantled Midleton in the first half with a try blitz which effectively ended the match as a contest. This second bonus-point victory in successive weeks leaves Nenagh on top of the Conference 2 table as the only team with maximum points ahead of next Saturday’s home game against UL Bohemians.

When the 2019/20 AIL season was abruptly halted in March, Midleton were at the bottom of Division 2C, and looked destined to return to the junior ranks until reprieved by the sudden end to the season. A purple patch for Nenagh in the ten minutes before half-time, in which they ran in five tries, exposed their limitations and the tie was over at the half-time break leaving Midleton with a task that seemed to be beyond them and so it transpired.

The only change to the Nenagh starting line-up from the Clonmel game was at out-half, where Conor McMahon made his first competitive start at senior level replacing Fionn McGibney whose dismissal last week means he also misses the next two games.

Conditions were as good as it gets for rugby. Pleasant autumn sunshine, and a light breeze and a perfect playing surface gave the small attendance hopes for an entertaining match. Nenagh were quickly into their stride and following a good break by Nicky Irwin, Paddy Scully darted over to open the scoring after only two minutes with Conor McMahon’s difficult conversion was missed. 

A relative lull in play followed until the water break where Midleton had decent territory and possession but were thwarted by stout Nenagh defence which denied them any scoring opportunities.  

On 25 minutes, Nicky Irwin, who was outstanding throughout, made a line break inside the Midleton half where he deceived the home defence with a powerful run and ran in for a fine individual try which again was not converted.

In the ten minutes remaining in the first half, Nenagh had total dominance and scored five tries between the 31st minute and the half-time break. Following a line-out inside the Midleton 22, Nenagh’s pack had the home defence in all sorts of trouble and their perfectly executed maul led to Kevin O’Flaherty getting the first of his two tries before the break. 

Evan Murphy then chipped in with another forward try on 35 minutes with Conor McMahon finally finding his range and converting both those tries. A second try for Nicky Irwin and a try under the posts by Peter Coman right on the half-time whistle gave Nenagh an unassailable 43-0 lead at the break.

Nenagh made some changes at the break; Cian Ryan came in on the wing to replace the injured Patrick Scully who did not return with Ruaidhri O’Brien moving to centre.  Fergal Brislane replaced Niall O’Gorman in the front row.

With just two minutes gone the second half, Nenagh had try number eight and it was the scrum-half Nicky Irwin who was centrally involved again. Collecting a loose clearance kick on halfway he beat several defenders on a 40-metre run to set up Ruairi O’Brien for a well worked score. 

It really did look ominous for Midleton at this point and to their credit they had a mini revival and started to put some phases together and were rewarded when scrum-half William Casey scored a try which was converted by Stuart Lee.

Nenagh responded again with their final try on 55 minutes when John Hayes got over in the corner to cap a fine individual performance by the back row. His workrate was impressive again, and he makes valuable yards and makes the gain line every time he is in possession.
Midleton added two further tries at the end to take the bare look off the scoreboard.  

The final score of the game was a well worked try. Pressurising Nenagh on the right-hand side, they passed the ball quickly out to winger Louis Farnham who scored a well taken try. 

To cap a worthwhile day for Nenagh Ormond, the seconds also had a 26-18 win over Midleton.

Nenagh can take several positives from the game. It is a long time since Nenagh posted 50+ points and nine tries in a competitive fixture. However, the match must be looked at in the context of the quality of the opposition. Midleton were resigned to a heavy beating long before the final whistle and their defensive frailties were ruthlessly exposed.

Conor McMahon at out half looks like one for the future and he will surely improve with more games under his belt. The backs are making line-breaks and setting up scoring opportunities and these are being executed. The set-pieces generally worked well but like last week there were some line-out failures that could be improved upon. However maximum points to date and back to back wins will give the team confidence for the matches ahead.

TEAMS – Midleton: Rob Williams; Louis Farnham, Daniel Murray, Ciaran Evans, Rian Hogan; Stuart Lee, William Casey; Mark Corby, Bryan Moore, Conor Smiddy; Rob Hickey, Luke Obersby; Sean O’Leary, Nick Daly, Charlie Murphy.
Reps: Rob England for O’Leary (65); Cillian Lynch for Corby (70).
Nenagh Ormond: Peter Coman; Ruaidhri O’Brien, Willie Coffey, Patrick Scully, David Gleeson; Conor McMahon, Nicky Irwin; Padraic Bourke, Dylan Murphy, Niall O’Gorman; Kevin O’Gorman, Kevin O’Flaherty; Evan Murphy, John O’Flaherty, John Hayes.
Reps: Fergal Brislane for N O’Gorman (HT); Cian Ryan for Scully (HT inj); Peter Rainsford for Irwin (55); Nicky Irwin for McMahon (58); Niall O’Gorman for Bourke (65 inj).

TABLE                    P    W    D    L    BP    +/-    Pts
Nenagh Ormond     2     2     0     0    2      +59    10
Bruff                        2     1     0     1    2      +16     6
Dolphin                   2     1     0      1   1      +16     5
UL Bohemian         1     1     0      0    1      +8       5
Clonmel                  2     1     0     1    0       -21     4
Sundays Well         1     0     0     1     0     -18      0
Midleton                  2     0    0     2     0      -60     0

Results: Clonmel 17-15 Bruff; UL Bohemian 33-25 Dolphin
Fixtures: Saturday 10th October: Bruff v Midleton; Nenagh Ormond v UL Bohemian; Sundays Well v Clonmel