Player/Coach Corcoran links Ormond, then and now

Nenagh Ormond Player/Coach Derek Corcoran understood more than most what was achieved at Thomond Park last Saturday night.

By Shane Brophy

It wasn’t just a fifth win of the AIL campaign to maintain second place in division 1B, but it came at the expense of nine-time winners Shannon, who were top-dogs in 2005, the same year Corcoran was helping Nenagh Ormond get out of the junior ranks.

There was a quite satisfaction as the players gathered on the pitch at Thomond Park following a resounding victory.

“We played well,” admitted Corcoran who featured for the last twenty minutes.

“We stuck to the basics, that was the gameplan; get the basics right, put the ball in the right parts of the field and take our chances when they come.

“It all came together, there is no particular reason why, a few refereeing decisions went our way, we held the ball a lot, so they didn’t get many opportunities, and that probably reflected in the scoreline.”

It wasn’t just another win as Nenagh Ormond went into the game as favourites on current form but psychologically to beat Shannon in their own backyard, now as their equal, was another scalp of sorts.

Corcoran added: “We have the utmost respect for Shannon. They are a massive club, always have been and always will be. They’ll pick themselves up and in time they will be back where they want to be, but we are no different than any other club, we want to be up there as well, and we are just trying to put our best foot forward and whoever comes in the way of that we will deal with it.

“The club in Nenagh has come on leaps and bounds in the last number of years, it is a long time come but it has built very slowly and steadily. We are in 1B now and up near the top of it competing and that is where we want to be, and long may it continue.”

With seven rounds gone out of eighteen in the AIL, Nenagh lie three points behind table-toppers Old Belvedere, who handed Ormond their only defeat of the campaign, a one point loss with the last kick of the game.

Already, Nenagh have accumulated enough points to be safe from relegation so they can set their sights on more, but Corcoran revealed there was never any target set at the start of the season.

“The really boring answer is, we just take it week by week,” he revealed.

“We just want to put a performance on each week, setting our own standards. We ended up with a draw on one occasion and lost by a point with the last kick of the game to Old Belvedere who are top of the table, so it shows we can compete with the top teams but on any given week, any team in this division can beat each other, we are well aware of that.

“Each week poses different challenges, so it literally has to be week by week. We are not looking at the table, we’ll look at it in February and March and see where we are.”

This latest Nenagh Ormond victory was achieved without influential centre Willie Coffey while his brother Joe is still out through injury, and John Healy is still making his way back into the fold with the player/coach admitted the depth of squad is why they are where they are.

“We don’t just have a squad of fifteen or twenty anymore, we have thirty,” Corcoran added.

“A lot of our under 21’s played against Cork Con today and went toe to toe with them for sixty-seventy minutes, only lost by a couple of scores so that shows where we are with our underage system.

“There were key guys missing today but other guys are ready to step up and step in and that is what we want, guys competing for jersey’s, we don’t want to be reliant on a few players, it is about the squad and always has been. That has shown in the performances and the bench came on today and made a big impact and have done so over the last six rounds.”

Nenagh Ormond aren’t back in league action until December 7th when they welcome Naas to Lisatunny before concluding the first half of the season a week later away to third placed UCC.

Before then they face Shannon again this Friday night in Coonagh in their final group game in the Munster Senior Challenge Cup where they require just one point to confirm a semi-final spot, having already overcome Highfield and Cork Con.

“We are back here next Friday down in Coonagh and then back into the league for two games before Christmas so there are three big weeks ahead,” Corcoran concluded.