AIL1B – Nenagh Ormond 34 Old Wesley 26
A week after Nenagh celebrated their Munster Senior Cup victory Old Wesley were the visitors to Tipperary. It was a cold and windy day leading to a game of some exciting rugby. The source of the excitement was some excellent rugby and costly errors. 9 tries, 6 conversions and 1 penalty were shared between the teams in a back and forth encounter.
Wesley started the strongest playing into an extremely strong wind and can consider themselves to be unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty try in the opening minutes. Nenagh were penalised and a man sent to the bin when a strong Wesley maul looked certain to score. Wesley continued to build the pressure only for a Ben Pope intercept and gallop to the line to give the home side the lead.
Minutes later the visitors put the set back behind them with a try of their own. Kieran O’Shea barged his way over the line with a trademark dynamic carry to leave the scores at 7-5.
From the restart Wesley were penalised for a high tackle. Conor McMahon slotted the 3 points. Nenagh’s second try came almost immediately with Wesley again the cause of their own demise. Another loose pass resulted in another length of the pitch intercept try. Josh Rowland was the beneficiary. McMahon added the conversion that left the score at 17-5. Close to halftime Wesley dug deep with a super defensive set to leave the scores as they were after 20 mins.
Old Wesley flew out of the blocks in the second half with 2 quickfire tries. Alex Molloy with a couple of pieces of individual magic was at the heart of both tries. One finished by himself and the other by the returning Paidi Farrell on the right wing. Cassidy converting both to give Wesley the lead 19-17. The lead didn’t last long with Nenagh taking advantage of a scrum penalty close to the Wesley line. Scrum half Nicky Irwin with a sharp bit of play taking a quick penalty to run under the posts unopposed. McMahon again converted.
With 10 minutes remaining Nenagh closed out the game with another try. This gave them a 34-19 lead and 5 points as they look to secure a home semi-final. Wesley however weren’t finished and the dominant maul closed out what may prove to be a crucial try bonus point for the Donnybrook side as they try and maintain their playoff position.
Next up Shannon are the visitors to Donnybrook for the McCoy/Tucker trophy and a crucial battle for both sides.
Click here for photos by Ken Richardson
Scorers: Tries: Kieran O’Shea, Alex Molloy, Paidi Farrell, Rian Handley; Cons: Ian Cassidy 3
HT: Nenagh Ormond 17 Old Wesley 5
Team:Tom Larke; Paidi Farrell, Alex Molloy, Eoin Deegan, Eoin Murphy; Ian Cassidy, Andrew Doyle; Adam Watchorn, Kieran O’Shea, Evin Coyle, Shane Cawley, David Motyer, Charlie Meagher, Reuben Pim (capt), Will Fay. Replacements: Rian Handley, Rory Duggan, Oisin Linnane, Gavin Meagher, Adam O’Connor, Willem Johnstone.
