(A jubilant U16 team and mentors after their impressive quarter final victory away to Killarney RFC last Saturday.)
Senior: With their last fixture having fallen foul of the inclement weather Nenagh Ormond get their promotion hunt in Division 2A back in action on this Saturday in Lisatunny with Old Crescent the visitors. The Rosbrien outfit had an impressive outing last time out putting fellow playoff chasers Banbridge to the sword in Limerick. Nenagh won’t need reminding about the quality of Banbridge after the recent reversal suffered at the Co. Down venue so this is not a fixture that can be taken lightly by any stretch. The Limerick club are firmly positioned in the top 4 currently, with a potential shot at promotion through the playoffs beckoning. They will be just as anxious to consolidate their position as Nenagh will be to re- establish theirs at the head of the league so an exciting battle is in prospect for any fans available to attend on Saturday. Kickoff is at 2.30pm in New Ormond Park and all support is, as always, much appreciated.
Meanwhile, ahead of that game, the U20.5 side go in search of honours of their own mid week when they face off against Garryowen on Wednesday night in the semi final of the Donal Walsh Plate. A place in the final would be a fitting reward for the effort these players have put in, both in their own right, and as part of the Senior Seconds squad too. Kickoff is at 7.30pm in Dooradoyle and once more support would be hugely appreciated.
A final word goes too the aforementioned Senior Seconds. On Sunday they made the arduous trip deep in to West Cork to take on Skibbereen RFC in the third round of the Munster Junior Cup. With squad depth tested by a number of injuries, particularly in the backline the team unfortunately lost out on a battling 37- 15 scoreline. Well done to all the players and mentors involved and commiserations on the defeat.
U16: Nenagh Ormond U16s travelled to Killarney RFC on Saturday to play a very good Killarney side,in the quarter final of the Pan Munster Cup.
Nenagh defended well from the start but for the first 15 minutes were finding it hard to get their hands on the ball. However, after 20 mins Nenagh pressed forward and from a lovely kick and chase, Matt Leyden crossed for a try with Dean Carey converting.
Killarney came back strongly and five minutes later they scored and converted, bringing the game back to a draw at half time.
Nenagh came out after half time with some fresh legs and were strong and starting to worry Killarney a bit. The lads’ great discipline, hard work and pressure led to Killarney giving away a lot of penalties and Nenagh capitalized; dominating the line out and showing great strength attacking and defending. Ten minutes into the second half Nenagh moved the ball well from side to side and Diarmuid Gleeson got in for our second try. Again Dean Carey got a lovely conversion. Killarney were rattled and Nenagh kept the pressure on, winning excellent line-outs and mauling well. Every one of the lads gave everything for the remaining twenty minutes. With all the bench on at this stage the boys continued to battle with some great tackling keeping massive pressure on Killarney. The lads eventually came out winners after a great game. Everyone fought hard and Nenagh came away with a 14-7 win .This was a great team effort and we now face Ennis in the cup semi final, the details of which are to be confirmed.
Squad-Armandas Kiaulakis, Liam O'Brien Dunne, Ronan Maher, Billy Hodgins, Oisin Ryan, Jack Kennedy, Jack Cleary, Darragh Murphy, Max Austin, Dean Carey, Matt Leyden, Adam Boland, Michael Cleary, Keith O'Donaghue, Diarmuid Gleeson, Shay Óg Kennedy, Benjamin Deegan, Thomas Ryan, Martin Heveli, Sean Stone, Alexander Finn, Brandon Rosney,Shaun Kennedy, James Kennedy
U13: The Under 13’s continued their unbeaten season on Sunday with a “home” game vs Ballina/Killaloe. The weather was perfect for some running rugby and even though Ballina/ Killaloe are struggling this year they showed plenty of fight and spirit and no little skill to keep Nenagh at bay. The score was 7-5 at the break. The second half went Nenagh’s way as Ballina ran out of steam a little and a number of tries were run in by Jack Comerford, Robbie Powell, JP Callahan, Brian Ley and Evan jones with Robbie Powell also scoring some conversions and the ever versatile Fionn Tucker knocking over a couple as well. Nenagh’s win means we are now guaranteed a cup semi final berth with home advantage likely. Our next league game will be away to our old rivals Garryowen on the 10th of March.
Split the Bucket: Congratulations to our most recent winner, Trish Hogan. Our Split the Bucket Draw continues to hand out a minimum of €500 in prize money every week. This is our main fundraiser and supports the work of the club at all age levels. Go to nenaghormondrfc.com/products to enter and be in with a chance to win our next weekly jackpot.
Fixtures:
Senior: Nenagh vs Old Crescent RFC. Sat Mar 2 @14.30 (Lisatunny)- Energia AIL
U20.5: Nenagh vs Garryowen. Wed 28 Feb @ 19.30 (Garryowen FC)- Donal Walsh Plate Semi Final
Underage Fixtures; TBC- Please follow social media updates
