Ormond in fine tune as they beat Cork Con

Nenagh Ormond’s new all-weather pitch was given the perfect christening on Saturday as the senior men’s team took the notable scalp of Cork Constitution to remain unbeaten in the Munster Senior Challenge Cup.

RUGBY: Bank of Ireland Munster Senior Challenge Cup Group 1 Round 2

Nenagh Ormond 31

Cork Constitution 12

Report: Shane Brophy at New Ormond Park

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Derek Corcoran (Nenagh Ormond).

SCORERS – Nenagh Ormond: Tries – O’Shaughnessy (2), Scully, Rowland, J O’Flaherty. Convs - McMahon (3)

Cork Constitution: Tries – Bowen (2). Conv – Taylor (1).

There are a number of factors to be taken from this game. The first is that the win puts Nenagh in a strong position to make the semi-finals of this prestigious competition when it resumes in November with the final round of group games against Shannon, and considering Nenagh’s near miss in the final in 2023, getting back to that stage is something that would be nice to achieve.

In terms of the immediate future, it was the perfect tune up for the start of the All-Ireland League and life in division 1B when Nenagh Ormond host Dublin University in the opening round on Saturday week. However, you are never more vulnerable than after a big win and they will have to ground themselves pretty quickly, but they can take a lot of confidence from it.

Going into a higher division of league rugby, a deeper panel is needed and considering this win was achieved without Willie Coffey, David Gleeson, Ben Pope and Josh Rowland (came off the bench) in the backs and Mikey Doran, John O’Flaherty, John Hayes and John Healy among others in the forwards, to come through against a near fully loaded Cork Con side is a massive injection in belief that if they can compete with and beat a team that were the best club team in Ireland last year, competing in the second tier shouldn’t be anything to fear.

The final outcome didn’t look likely after just seven minutes as Cork Con raced into a 12-0 lead with wing Matthew Bowen scoring two tries and James Taylor converting one as the AIL Division 1A champions flexed their considerable bulk including former pros Sean French and Eoin Quilter, as well as current Munster prop Mark Donnelly.

Nenagh’s error rare was huge in the early going with little going right until the midway point of the half when they won a scrum penalty, the first of a number both on their and their opponents put-ins.

It took until the 27th minute for Nenagh to trouble the scoreboard. A high tackle on Joe Coffey yielded a penalty on half-way which Charlie O’Doherty kicked inside the 22. Nenagh gained possession from the lineout where they won a penalty and instead of taking the three-points, Nicky Irwin quick-tapped and was held up short of the line but with Cork Con defenders sucked in, the ball was moved wide to Conor O’Shaughnessy to touch down in the right corner, with Conor McMahon converting superbly.

Nenagh scored their second try right on half time when a cross-kick from evergreen player/head coach Derek Corcoran was right on the money for Patrick Scully to score in the left corner, but was unconverted as the sides went in level at half time, 12-12.

One wondered did half time come at the right time for Cork Con to quell the home side and they started the second half well, turning down a kickable penalty in the quest for a third try but Nenagh’s maul defence was superb, as part of a superb overall defensive display as they kept the visitors out on numerous occasions.

Conor O’Shaughnessy scored his second try on 49 minutes to put Nenagh Ormond in front for the first time when a superb break from midfield by Derek Corcoran opened up the defence with Nicky Irwin in support, but he was hauled down short of the line by Sean French. Nenagh moved the ball quickly out wide from the breakdown for O’Shaughnessy to score again in the left corner, superbly converted again by McMahon.

The trend of the game continued as Nenagh crossed for the bonus-point try on 56 minutes as impressive Australian debutant Angus Blackmore hacked on a lineout over throw from where they earned a penalty in the 22. From the lineout close to the line, Nenagh went to Joe Coffey who immediately popped the ball to new Kevin O’Flaherty in front of him, with Cork Con caught cold as thew new skipper touched down for an unconverted score.

Surely this would engage a response from Cork Con and they mounted an attack from the restart but the Nenagh defence held firm, and from their next attack, Josh Rowland crossed for their fifth try, again after another sustained attack but when it appeared as if the move right had broken down, the broken field aspect also flummoxed the visitors as Rowland looped around to touch down in the corner with Conor McMahon landing his third difficult conversion for a 31-12 lead.

The home side has to withstand a barrage of Cork Con attacks in the late stages, but they held out, including a superb try-saving tackle by Blackmore to deny Sean French.

TEAMS – Nenagh Ormond: Charlie O’Doherty (7); Conor O’Shaughnessy (7), Conor McMahon (8), Angus Blackmore (7), Patrick Scully (7); Derek Corcoran (8), Nicky Irwin (8); Niall O’Gorman (7), Dylan Murphy (7), Colm Skehan (7); Jake O’Kelly (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (Capt 7); Joe Coffey (7), Evan Murphy (8), John Brislane (7).

Reps used: Shane Malone (6), Jack O’Keefe (6), Sean Frawley (7), Kevin O’Gorman (6), Rob Buckley (6), Josh Rowland (7), Brian O’Rourke (6).

Cork Constitution: Billy Crowley (6); Sean French (7), Killian Coghlan (6), Eoghan Smyth (6), Matthew Bowen (7); James Taylor (6), Louis Kahn (6); Mark Donnelly (6), George Good (6), Luke Masters (6); Sean Duffy (6), Eoin Quilter (6); Jacob Sheahan (6), Ronan O’Sullivan (6), David Hyland (Capt 7).

Reps used: Ben Comiskey (6), Alessandro Heaney (6), Hermann O’Donoghue (6), Mark Skelly (6), Luke Kerr (6), Aidan Moynihan (6), Daniel Hurley (6).

Referee: Michael Reidy.