Relentless Nenagh eventually cause ‘Cookies’ to crumble to reach Munster Senior Cup final

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Semi-Final

Young Munster 31

Nenagh Ormond 32

Report: James Hayden at Tom Clifford Park, Limerick

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Conor McMahon (Nenagh Ormond).

SCORERS - Young Munster: Tries – Roulston, Faloon; Pepper, Oji. Convs - Lesczynski (1). Pens - Lesczynski (3)

Nenagh Ormond: Tries - Gleeson, Buckley, O’Shaughnessy, Rowland. Convs – McMahon (3). Pens – McMahon (2).

Nenagh Ormond are back in the Munster Senior Cup decider for the second time in three years thanks to a memorable victory over Young Munster on Friday night.

The game was a repeat of the dramatic 2023 decider when the ‘Cookies’ completed a historic three-in-a-row of Munster Senior Cup wins.

Howver, on this occasion, it was Nenagh Ormond who exacted a long-awaited and much desired revenge for that 27-24 loss with an exhilarating one point victory over the Limerick side that have tasted senior cup honours on no less than ten occasions.

A resilient, relentless, and utterly determined performance eventually saw Nenagh Ormond record one of the most memorable victories in the club’s history, in an end-to-end tie that truly espoused the nature of cup rugby.

In the end, a titanic battle between the sides came down to a last gasp penalty from the boot of the ever-trusty Conor McMahon in what proved a dramatic finale to a thrilling encounter and one that now propels Nenagh Ormond into a final meeting with another Limerick side, Old Crescent.

The home side led by two points heading into the final minute, but McMahon’s penalty handed Nenagh the advantage as time ticked towards the 80-minute mark.

The visitors were forced to defend stoutly in what appeared an inordinate amount of additional time but as many a Nenagh rugby aficionado will say once you cross the imaginary rugby Rubicon at Annacotty you are very much at the mercy of refereeing decisions when it comes to playing rugby royalty in the Treaty city.

In the end, it was a knock-on from the home side as they tried their utmost to fashion a late penalty which brought a halt to proceedings following a tie choc full of drama and entertainment.

Nenagh were dazzling in the opening twenty minutes with a knock-on in Munsters’ own 22' providing the visitors with the opportunity for a scintillating back-line move finished off by winger Davy Gleeson finishing in the corner. Conor McMahon duly added the additional points before impressive Munsters’ out-half, Julian Lesczynski replied with a well-taken penalty for the home side.

Nenagh’s impressive start continued though with a tremendous Rob Buckley break resulting in the flanker going in under the posts. Conor McMahon added the extras and with a quarter of an hour elapsed Nenagh were 14-3 clear.

With the breeze at their backs, Munsters’ hit back with a second Lesczynski penalty before hooker Aaron Roulston crossed the Nenagh line following an unstoppable maul off the back of a well-worked lineout. Julian Lesczynski added the conversion to bring Munsters’ back to within one point.

The ebb and flow of the game continued at pace with Nenagh bagging their third try thanks to a sublime Ben Pope cross-field kick which was gathered by Josh Rowland who scooted clear of the Munster cover before offloading to Conor McMahon in support and he in turn popped to Conor O’Shaughnessy who crossed over for a cracking try, 19-13 to the visitors.

Ormond’s dominance waned somewhat in the closing stages of the half with Munster’s piling on the pressure while Nenagh’s scrum also came in for scrutiny from referee Paudie Sheehan. They were reduced to fourteen men for the final ten minutes after winger Davy Gleeson was somewhat harshly sin-binned for a high tackle.

A converted Bailey Faloon try brought Munster’s right back into contention before Ballina native Oisin Pepper followed up on Julian Lesczynski’s deft chip behind the Nenagh cover to fire the home side back in front right on the stroke of half-time, 23-19 at the interval. Pepper was forced off at the interval after injuring himself in the process of scoring the try but Cian Casey proved an able replacement.

The pace of the game dropped slightly in the second half with Nenagh forced into a rearguard action on more than one occasion. Nenagh’s scrum was pinged again on 47 minutes but seconds later they redeemed themselves deep inside their own 22’ with a terrific scrum to clear their lines.

Cue the introduction of Ormond’s version of the South African ‘bomb squad’ and the impact was immediate with four Nenagh subs brought on in a bid to bolster the side and break the deadlock.

Nenagh struck again on the hour mark with a deft Ben Pope cross-field kick was gathered in well by Davy Gleeson before he popped the ball up for Josh Rowland on the loop for Nenagh’s fourth try. Conor McMahon added the two points and Ormond were back in front once more.

Munsters’ weren’t finished yet though with winger, Ihechi Oji responding with a try in the corner before Nenagh responded with a perfectly executed Conor McMahon penalty after Bailey Faloon was penalised and yellow-carded for a tip tackle on seventy minutes.

The drama kept coming though with Nenagh Ormond replacement player/head coach Derek Corcoran also sin-binned after an attempted intercept didn’t come off as planned and was instead pinged for a deliberate knock-on.

Julian Lesczynski flighted over what appeared to be the match-deciding penalty but there was a twist in the tale after Munsters were pinged again on the floor; Conor McMahon calmly slotted over the resulting penalty to finally crumble Munsters resolve and with it propel Nenagh into another Munster Senior Cup decider in Thomond Park on the St. Patrick’s Bank Holiday weekend.

TEAMS - Young Munster: Huber Gilvarry (6); Ihechi Oji (7), Samson Seinafo (7), Manuel Covella (6), Oisin Pepper (6); Julian Lesczynski (8), Donnchadh O’Callaghan (7); David Begley (7); Aaron Roulston (7), Paul Allen (7); Sean Rigney (7), Tom Goggin (7); Alan Kennedy (Capt 7), Bailey Faloon (7), Stephen McLoughlin (6).

Reps: Cian Casey (7) for Pepper (HT inj); Oran O’Reilly (6) for Allen (52); Conor Moloney (6) for McLoughlin (52).

Nenagh Ormond: Josh Rowland (7); Davy Gleeson (7), Conor McMahon (8), Angus Blackmore (7), Conor O’Shaughnessy (7); Ben Pope (7), Charlie O’Doherty (7); Mikey Doran (7), Dylan Murphy (7), Matty Burke (7); Jake O’Kelly (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (Capt 7), Rob Buckley (7), Evan Murphy (7), John Brislane (7).

Reps: Jack O’Keeffe (7) for Burke (52); Fionn O’Meara (7) for Buckley (52); Joe Coffey (7) for Brislane (52); John Healy (7) for O’Kelly (52); Nicky Irwin (6) for O’Doherty (63); Derek Corcoran (6) for Blackmore (66).

Referee: Paudie Sheehan (MAR).