No hangover for Ormond who confirm playoff spot

RUGBY: Energia All Ireland League Division 1B Round 16

Nenagh Ormond 34

Old Wesley 26

Report: James Hayden at New Ormond Park

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Davy Gleeson (Nenagh Ormond).

SCORERS - Nenagh Ormond: Tries – Rowland (2), Pope, Irwin, Gleeson. Convs – McMahon (3); Pen – McMahon (1).

Old Wesley: Tries – O’Shea, Molloy, Farrell, Handley. Convs – Cassidy (3).

Nenagh Ormond staved off a stiff Old Wesley challenge to consolidate second place in AIL Division 1B following an absorbing round 16 clash on Saturday afternoon.

The recently crowned Munster Senior Cup champions fashioned a wholly deserved five-try bonus point victory over the Donnybrook side and with it a guaranteed spot in the promotion/relegation play-offs.

One win from Ormond’s final two outings against Blackrock College (home) and Dublin University (away) will secure home advantage in the play-offs as matters come to a head at the business end of Division 1B in the final two rounds.

Playing with a strong breeze at their backs in the opening half, Nenagh were a little sluggish in the opening exchanges with the visitors on top territorially. Wesley threatened to capitalize on their early dominance but were sucker-punched with a Ben Pope breakaway try from inside his own half after a well-timed interception close to Nenagh’s own ten-metre line. Pope raced clear of the Wesley backs to dot down under posts with Conor McMahon adding the extras to gift Nenagh a tonic start.

The Donnybrook club’s riposte was immediate however with an excellent maul bringing Wesley right to the line before Nenagh were pinged for collapsing and captain Kevin O’Flaherty was sin-binned for his misdemeanour. Wesley set again from the resulting penalty and mauled over with hooker Kieran O’Shea coming up with the ball.Wesley’s influential fly-half Ian Cassidy missed the conversion as the visitors set down an early marker.

The sin-binning served to sting Nenagh into action though with a fourteenth minute Conor McMahon penalty, extending their advantage to five before a delightful Davy Gleeson break down the right flank brought Nenagh to within metres of the Wesley line. A couple of phases later and Nenagh were over once more following an inch-perfect Ben Pope pass to Josh Rowland on the wing and Nenagh’s top try-scorer did what he does best. Conor McMahon judged the wind perfectly to add the extra points and put Nenagh 17-5 to the good with just twenty minutes elapsed.

Neither side managed to add to their respective tallies for the remainder of the half although it wasn’t for the lack of trying in what was an at times tetchy encounter. Wesley butchered a 31st minute chance to cross the Nenagh whitewash following an incisive back line move before Ian Cassidy saw his 31st minute penalty effort in front of the posts tail to the right and wide.

The momentum swung back in favour of the home side in the closing stages of the half with Nenagh threatening to cross the Wesley line once more before an incident on the ground following an incisive break resulted in both Davy Gleeson and Wesley’s blindside flanker Charlie Meagher receiving yellow cards.

Ormond again threatened to breach the Wesley line right on half-time with the Dublin side coughing up two scrum penalties in a row. Nenagh continued to build momentum, but an unforced handling error brought a halt to proceedings and Wesley survived unscathed but still trailed by 17-5 at the break.

Wesley hit the ground running from the restart and pressured Nenagh onto the back foot almost immediately. A little bit of magic from outside centre Alex Molloy yielded a second converted try for the visitors after just three minutes before Molloy was again instrumental in another Wesley try on the 48-minute mark.

Molloy spotted a gap in the Nenagh cover and jinked through before slaloming down the right flank and putting winger Paidi Farrell in to finish in the corner. Ian Cassidy added the additional points and suddenly Nenagh found themselves two points adrift, 17-19.

With both sides now restored to full numerical complement, the home side set about wresting back the advantage and within three minutes an incisive tap and go penalty saw Nicky Irwin snipe through the Wesley cover for Nenagh’s third try.

Ormond’s replacements were making an impact too with Charlie O’Doherty, now at scrum-half, upping the tempo for the home side. Wesley did their utmost to repel Nenagh’s growing dominance but the men in red & white secured their bonus point try on 64 minutes after Willie Coffey’s beautifully flighted skip pass found Davy Gleeson on the wing and he finished with aplomb to put Nenagh 27-19 clear.

Wesley were now gasping for air as the Nenagh onslaught continued and when a sublime Derek Corcoran pass found Josh Rowland for Nenagh’s fifth try, Wesley’s goose was well and truly cooked. Conor McMahon added the extra points from a tight angle to leave Old Wesley fifteen points adrift with the game entering the closing stages.

The Donnybrook side did muster a late challenge however with replacement hooker, Rian Handley crossing over on 80 minutes and Ian Cassidy adding the extras and credit to them they pushed hard to get back into losing bonus-point territory, but Nenagh’s defence held fast to secure a hard-fought eight-point victory following a thoroughly absorbing encounter.

TEAMS - Nenagh Ormond: Charlie O’Doherty (7); Davy Gleeson (8), Conor McMahon (7), Angus Blackmore (7), Josh Rowland (8); Ben Pope (8), Nicky Irwin (8); Mikey Doran (8) Dylan Murphy (7), Matt Burke (7), Fionn O’Meara (7), Kevin O’Flaherty (Capt 8), Joe Coffey (7), John Healy (8), John O’Flaherty (7).

Reps: Colm Skehan (7) for Burke (43); Willie Coffey (7) for Irwin (43); Rob Buckley (7) for O’Meara (51); Jake O’Kelly (7) for J O’Flaherty (51); Sean Frawley (6) for Doran (64); Derek Corcoran (6) for Pope (70); John O’Flaherty for K O’Flaherty (70); Fionn O’Meara for Healy (70).

Old Wesley: Tom Larke (7); Paidi Farrell (7), Alex Molloy (8), Eoin Deegan (7), Eoin Murphy (7); Ian Cassidy (8); Andrew Coyle (7); Adam Watchorn (7), Kieran O’Shea (8), Evin Coyle (7), Shane Cawley (7), David Motyer (7), Charlie Meagher (7), Reuben Pim (7), Will Fay (8).

Reps: Rian Handley (7) for Watchorn (60); Rory Duggan (6) for Coyle (60); Willie Johnstone (6) for Doyle (62); Adam O’Connor (6) for Murphy (65).

Referee: Padraic Reidy (Leinster).