Under 18.5: Nenagh Ormond U18s travelled to Midleton on Sunday for the final round of the Munster Club Cup.  Nenagh needed a win to be sure of third place in the group while Midleton had yet to win a match so while they were confident, Nenagh were also going in to this game with plenty of pressure on them.  

With nothing to lose, Midleton came hard at the visitors and were camped in Nenagh’s half for much of the opening exchanges, slotting a penalty kick just three minutes in.  Nenagh were nervous unfortunately knowing how much was at stake in the game. Mistakes meant that they struggled to gain ground or retain possession on the few occasions they did get their hands on the ball.  After around ten minutes, during their only trip to Midleton’s half in the first quarter, Nenagh won a penalty which Joseph Gleeson kicked to even up the score.  Midleton won another kickable penalty to go 6-3 up after around 16 minutes and for the remainder of the half, continued to put pressure on Nenagh who were on the back foot the majority of the time.  Eventually the pressure told and when they won a penalty well inside the Nenagh 22 they ran it, crashing over to score close in and converting the try to go ahead 13-3 at the break.  

Nenagh came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half and were first on the scoreboard when, after some focussed play, forward carries brought them to within touching distance and a good drive from Aodán Kirwan took him over the line.  Then Nenagh got back on even terms when they won a penalty 5 metres out.  There was no stopping Luke Conneally who tapped and powered through the defence to touch down.  With no subs available to them, it looked like Midleton might tire.  However, often when there are only 15 men available 15 men do whatever it takes and that was the case with Midleton.  When they won a scrum just inside the Nenagh half, their outhalf made good ground before putting in a kick for his backs to run on to.  The defence raced back but were narrowly beaten to the ball and Nenagh found themselves 5 points behind again.  

With plenty of time left, Nenagh worked their way up into Midleton’s 22 again where it was centre Aaron Delahunty’s drive that couldn’t be stopped.  Gleeson converted to put Nenagh two points ahead.  With time running out it looked like Nenagh might hold out but Midleton dug deep and, inside the last ten minutes they scored again to go ahead 23-20.  Nenagh had 6 minutes left after the conversion and they pounded the Midleton defence as hard as they could.  In the final play of the game, they won a penalty.  With a strong wind blowing the kick was always going to be difficult but, knowing that a draw would put his team in a better position, Gleeson bravely stepped up and was unlucky to see the wind take the ball to the right of the posts.  

This leaves our U18s waiting on the result of a previously postponed game next weekend to see where they place in the group.  This has been a tough few weeks for the lads but has been full of great learning experiences which will stand to this young team in the future.  

Team: Mason Cawley, Josh Powell, Aaron Delahunty, Jack O’Flaherty, Tristan Madden, Joseph Gleeson, Luke Graham, Jack Butler, Luke Conneally, Jess Robbins, James Simons, Cillian Ryan, Ivan Struzia, Joe Shanahan, John Brislane (c).

Replacements: Dylan Schweitnitz, Aodan Kirwan, Sam O Brien, Sean Ryan, Paddy Griffin, Aaron Bane. 🔴⚪️