Last gasp Finn kicks Nenagh to victory

RUGBY: Energia All Ireland League Division 2A Round 2

Nenagh Ormond 25

MU Barnhall 22

Report: Thomas Conway in Lisatunny

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Conor McMahon (Nenagh Ormond)

SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Gleeson, Healy, Cian Ryan. Cons: Conor McMahon (2). Pens: McMahon, Finn.

MU Barnhall: Try: Duff. Con: Chester. Pens: Chester (5)

The sense of optimism and possibility in and around Nenagh Ormond RFC is inescapable right now. Lisatunny is buzzing.

A second successive victory in as many weeks has propelled Nenagh to second place in the Division 2A table. Granted, it is still early doors. Any talk of play-offs and promotion would be recklessly premature, but it is surely a thought on the minds of rugby folk across the region.

This latest triumph, like the one which preceded it, was hard-earned but unquestionably deserved. The performance might have been imperfect, but it proved sufficient courtesy of a dramatic last-ditch penalty, knocked over by James Finn from underneath the posts.

The Kildare outfit had very nearly salvaged a draw thanks to a late Cathal Duff try on approach to full-time, but the closing minutes delivered further unscripted drama. With the clock well into the red, Nenagh were awarded a penalty some 35 metres from goal, nearing the touch-line. Finn failed to find the distance, but his teammates were quick to react. They instantly flooded the goal-line, piling pressure on the Barnhall pack and forcing another penalty, this time straight in front of the posts. Finn knocked it over with ease. From a Nenagh perspective, it was the perfect ending.

Thanks to winger David Gleeson, they also produced the perfect start. Just 26 seconds had elapsed when the speed-merchant winger rocketed through to land the game’s first try - a work almost all of his own making. The pacey Ballinahinch man released himself with a clever chip-and-go from the ten-metre line, before offloading to scrum-half Nicky Irwin, who marked his fiftieth appearance in an Ormond shirt by supplying yet another assist. His return pass was gobbled up by Gleeson, who shot past three Barnhall bodies before diving over the line, finishing a helter-skelter ten second process which left the away side looking visibly shocked.

To say Barnhall were ill-prepared to deal with that initial Nenagh attack would be an understatement. But the Maynooth University side subsequently demonstrated that they know how to manage a game. Rather than slip into panic mode, their response was measured.

A trio of sweetly-struck Adam Chester penalties eventually edged them in front, if only momentarily. His third kick, on 32 minutes, should have spelt trouble for Nenagh, but as half-time neared, the home side began to rediscover their spark. John Healy’s 39th minute try was, more than anything else, borne out of sheer determination and willpower. The centre snatched an offload just beyond the 22-metre line, then shot through an open channel on the stand side. He fended off several tackles en route, eventually touching down just right of the posts. 14-9. Advantage Nenagh.

Chester would add the only score of the third quarter, slotting another penalty to reduce the deficit to two, at which point there was a sense that this game was likely to go down to the wire.

That sense then evaporated on seventy minutes when, just moments after a McMahon penalty, Cian Ryan pinned down Nenagh’s third try in the corner, completing a flowing move which had emanated from a brilliant Conor McMahon break. The winger had already ripped the Barnhall defence to shreds on 59 minutes, tearing up the wing to create a play which almost resulted in a Niall O’Gorman try. O’Gorman was ultimately held up on the line, but on this occasion, Nenagh would secure the five points courtesy of Ryan, who extended himself beyond all natural limits to touch down in the far corner. Really and truly, that try should have put the game to bed. But the closing minutes produced a series of twists. Chester landed his fifth penalty to leave Barnhall trailing by seven.

Soon after, David Gleeson was banished to the sin-bin for a technical infringement on a Barnhall pass. And then, with the clock nearing eighty, Duff carved through to land the most opportunistic of tries. With Barnhall camped five metres from the Nenagh line, most men in Duff’s position would simply have carried the ball into contact and hoped for the best. Instead, he stole possession from the back of the rook and sailed through a gap, winding his way towards the posts to make Chester’s conversion that bit easier.

Had this been the Nenagh of last year, you sense that this game might just have ended all square. But this Ormond is a different animal, with a different mindset and very different ambitions. They earned their victory, and on balance, they deserved it.

Teams - Nenagh Ormond: Josh Rowland (7), Conor McMahon (8), Willie Coffey (7), John Healy (8), David Gleeson (8), Derek Corcoran (7), Nicky Irwin (7); Mikey Doran (7), Dylan Murphy (7), John Coffey (7), Jake O’Kelly (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (7), Rob Buckley (7), Evan Murphy (7), John O’Flaherty (8).

Reps: Cian Ryan (7) for Corcoran (39 inj); Niall O’Gorman (8) for Murphy (HT); John Hayes (8) for Buckley (54); James Finn (7) for Rowland (63); Peter O’Connor (7) for O’Kelly (74).

MU Barnhall: Conor Duggan (7), Seán Sexton (7), Darren Hudson (7), David Dooley (8), Conor Lacey (7), Adam Chester (8), Rob Holt (7); Geoff Brooks (6), Gareth Murray (7), Darragh Bellanova (6), Adam Wheatley (7), Andre O’Neill (7), Fergus Stanley (7), Abdul Olaosebikan (7), Tom McKeown (7).

Reps: Peter O’Connor (8) for Brooks (HT); Seán Higgins (7) for Sexton (48); Conor Turley (7) for Bellanova (54); Shane Stokes (7) for Hudson (65).

Referee: Paul O’Connor