Nenagh go down to naas in ulster bank league
Ulster Bank League Division 2A
Nenagh Ormond 10
Naas RFC 17
By Noel Cahill in Lisatunny
Nenagh Ormond didn’t get the early Christmas present they were expecting as they went down to a much livelier Naas team in Lisatunny on Saturday.
Under the cosh from the very start Nenagh played second fiddle all day but, to their credit, manufactured a losing bonus point deep in injury time which could yet prove valuable at the season’s end. It wasn’t so much the defeat but the manner in which Naas completely outplayed their hosts for long periods will be most worrying for Nenagh.
Indeed it wasn’t until the tenth minute that Ormond got into the opposition half at all. Mark Doyle and Hugh Maloney combined well to keep an attack alive and working the ball infield Nenagh were rewarded with a 30 metre penalty which John Lillis knocked over for an unlikely lead. Far from pressing home their advantage Nenagh were put on the back foot from the restart and with the defence stretched and more than one missed tackle, centre Henry Bryce found enough space to touch down for the opening converted try in the 13th minute. That’s the way it stayed until the break but at just 3-7 there was plenty of time if Nenagh could just string a few moves together.
Early in the second half Kevin O’Flaherty lost his tackler to put Anthony Kavanagh through but despite a decent effort at getting the offload away, Kavanagh’s pass was baulked by a stray Naas hand and Nenagh’s best try scoring chance of the game was lost. Growing in confidence with each passing minute Naas moved the ball at every opportunity. The line speed of the Naas backs and the clever playmaking of out half David Ahearne caused all kinds of problems and Ahearne was the instigator of the visitor’s second try in the 50th minute when his perfectly weighted pass put centre Johnny Delaney through unopposed to touch down under the posts. Easily converted by Peter Osborne, the task was growing more impossible for Nenagh at 3 – 14 and when Osborne landed a penalty in the 26th minute the result was definitely decided.
In fairness to Nenagh, their league position has been earned and not handed to them and they never let their heads drop. Trying to run the ball from any position may have been foolhardy but in the final quarter it was the most likely source of a try and Nenagh spent the final minutes of the game camped in the Naas 22. Eventually, and following two yellow cards for the visiting side, Lemeki Vaipula touched down from a pushed over scrum and Dan Fogarty knocked over the conversion to snatch the losing bonus point.
While the season is far from over it is how Nenagh react to the defeat and the indifferent performance which will decide how the rest of the campaign pans out.
MATCH DIGEST
Man of the Match: David Ahearne (Naas RFC).
Scorers - Nenagh: Try: Vaipulu; Conv: Fogarty; Pen: Lillis.
Naas: Tries: Bryce, Delaney; Convs: Osborne (2); Pen: Osborne.
Nenagh Ormond: John Lillis, Dan Fogarty, Hugh Moloney; Mark Doyle, Misi Salave; Mike Fogarty, Eoin Gardiner; Conor Brislane, John Healy, Fergal Brielane; Kevin Seymour, Kevin O’Flaherty; Michael Slattery, Lemeki Vaipula, Anthony Kavanagh.
Reps: Kevin O’Gorman for Kavanagh (25-33), John Coffey for F. Brislane (HT), Ger Harmse for D. Fogarty (48), Shane Quinlan for Gardiner (59-62), Peter O’Connor for Healy (66), D. Fogarty for M. Fogarty (66), Quinlan for Lillis (72), O’Gorman for Seymour (72).
Naas: Peter Osborne, Rob Campbell, Rob O’Connor; Henry Bryce, Johnny Delaney; David Ahearne, Cathal Murtagh; Bob Bryan, Charlie King, Jason Harney; David benn, Paul Monahan; Johnny Holmes, Will O’Brien; Andy Kearney.
Reps: Miseoka Timeto for O’Brien (HT), Mike Russell for King (48), O’Brien for Kearney (59), Cillian Dempsey for Monahan (60), John Sutton for Bryan (72).
Referee: Oisin Quinn (IRFU)