(3 tries)                                                   (4 tries)
(Half -time score Old Wesley 10  Nenagh Ormond 12)
Saturday 5th October 2024
KO 2.30pm   
Venue: Energia Park, Donnybrook

Referee: Stuart Douglas

Scorers:
Old Wesley: 

Tries – Tom Larke, Will Fay, Paudi Farrell : Conversions – Ian Cassidy (2) : Penalty  - Tom Larke

Tries – Angus Blackmore (2), Conor O’Shaughnessy, Patrick Scully

Conversions – Conor McMahon (1) 

Player of the match: Angus Blackmore (Nenagh Ormond)

Teams
NORFC
Josh Rowland; Conor O’Shaughnessy, Angus Blackmore, Willie Coffey, Conor McMahon, Ben Pope, Charlie O’Doherty; Mikey Doran, Dylan Murphy, Jack O’Keeffe, Jake O’Kelly, Kevin O’Flaherty (capt), Rob Buckley, Evan Murphy, John O’Flaherty.
Replacements: Jack Devanny, Sean Frawley, Joe Coffey, John Brislane, Derek Corcoran, Patrick Scully.

BCRFC
Tom Larke; Eoin Murphy, Alex Molloy, Eoin Deegan, Nathan Randles; Ian Cassidy, Willem Johnstone; Harry Noonan, Kieran O’Shea, Cronan Gleeson, Shane Cawley, Mahon Ronan, Reuben Pim (capt), Charlie Meagher, William Fay.

Replacements: Rian Handley, Sam Kenny, Gavin Meagher, Fergus Jemphrey, Andrew Doyle, Paidi Farrell.

 
Another cracking game in division 1B as Old Wesley and Nenagh Ormond played out a pulsating 22-all draw on the 3g pitch at Energia Park in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd which included a good number of traveling supporters. Despite yellow weather warnings in the south of the country, conditions in Donnybrook were excellent although a stiff 30km/h breeze did provide challenges for both teams at times.
Both of these sides like to play an expansive brand of rugby which made for a highly entertaining game throughout, with seven tries in total, four of them going to the visitors. With Old Belevedere losing at home to Blackrock, the try bonus point gained by Nenagh sends them to the top of the division on 13 points, one point clear of “Belvo” who will travel to New Ormond Park in two weeks’ time.
Nenagh started the game brightly and had Wesley pinned in their own half for much of the opening quarter. The home defence was solid but a spectacular break from Nenagh’s impressive centre Angus Blackmore on 8 minutes brought his team to within a meter of the Wesley line. Desperate defence from second rower Mahon Ronan earned him a yellow card and a 10 minute spell on the sideline. From the resultant penalty, Nenagh engineered space on the right where Charlie O’Doherty found winger Conor O’Shaughnessy who crossed in the corner for the game’s opening try.

Shortly afterwards, Wesley were dealt a further blow as out-half Ian Cassidy also saw yellow for a high tackle and the home side were now down to 13. The resultant penalty was kicked to the corner and from the lineout, Willie Coffey linked beautifully with his centre partner Blackmore to send the Australian scampering through a gap in the undermanned defence to touch down under the posts.
Although Nenagh were good value for their 12-0 lead, this Wesley team are a quality outfit and they responded impressively, even with two players down and playing against a stiff breeze.  They reduced the deficit on 25 minutes when full-back Tom Larke, deputising for the sin-binned Cassidy, knocked over a fine penalty kick after Nenagh were penalised for holding on.
Things improved further for the home side on the half hour mark as they went through an impressive number of phases before creating space for Larke to burst through a fractured defence and race clear to touch down under the sticks. Cassidy completed the formalities with a simple conversion which left the margin at only 2 points. Although Nenagh pressed hard for another score late in the half, the Wesley defence stood firm and the scores remained at 10-12 all the way to the break.

Wesley began the second half with the wind and momentum both very much in their favour. It was Nenagh however who struck first - full back Josh Rowland  making one of his trademark breaks from just outside his own 22 to set up a flowing move which brought his team deep into opposition territory. Nenagh showed patience and control through a number of phases before a long pass found Blackmore wide on the left, 10 meters out. The centre still had plenty of work to do but showed great strength and footwork to score in the corner. The try was unconverted but Nenagh were now once again 7 points clear.
From the restart, the home side kicked deep and tried to keep Nenagh pinned inside their own 22. After regaining possession around half-way, Old Wesley’s impressive outside centre Alex Molloy broke clear from the base of a ruck and linked with the supporting Johnstone to bring play to within 5 meters of the Nenagh line. Although the defence remained firm on this occasion, the pressure was building on the visitors as they defended a wave of Wesley attacks. 
In one such attack, Molloy came close to scoring in the right corner but was repelled by a last ditch challenge from Blackmore. A discussion between referee Stuart Douglas and his linesman resulted in the centre receiving a yellow card and 10 minutes in the bin for a high tackle. In an effort to freshen things up, Nenagh brought in Sean Frawley to replace loose head prop Mikey Doran and also brought in Patrick Scully to replace Conor O’Shaughnessy. Nevertheless, the pressure on the Tipperary men continued and on 58 minutes, the dam finally broke when Wesley got an 8 man push on a 5 meter scrum leaving number 8 Will Fay with a relatively simple task to touch down for his side’s second try, converted by Cassidy.

Although the scores were now locked at 17-17, the momentum had swung in favour of the Dubliners as Nenagh were still a man down and just about holding on. Derek Corcoran entered the fray at out-half on 63 minutes as he replaced the injured Josh Rowland, with Ben Pope moving to the full back slot. Wesley were also unloading their bench as Andrew Doyle replaced scrum-half Johnstone and Paudi Farrell came on for Murphy on the right wing. 
Farrell made an almost immediate impact as he came in off his wing at pace to slalom his way through the Nenagh defence for a terrific individual score. Surprisingly, Cassidy was wide with the conversion but the home side now led for the first time with little over 10 minutes remaining. Wesley looked to consolidate this lead as they attacked at every opportunity but the Nenagh defence showed great resilience in keeping them at bay. The pressure was finally relieved as Ben Pope kicked up-field from a penalty to finally get his side into the opposition half.

Nenagh won a scrum on the Wesley 22 but were going backwards and under serious pressure when replacement number 8 John Brislane picked off the base and drove forward. He offloaded to Corcoran who slipped a beautifully timed pass for Willie Coffey to cut through the defence and burst towards the posts. Although Coffey was hauled down a meter short of the line, the ball was recycled quickly and Patrick Scully connected with a long pass from O’Doherty to cross the line unopposed. The scores were now once again level as Conor McMahon lined up the conversion which could give his side the lead. Unfortunately, his effort drifted on the wind and struck the post.
With referee Stuart Douglas having to leave the field with a pulled hamstring just before full time, the game ended when a Nenagh attack was thwarted down the left touchline. Honours even therefore on the scoreboard which to most observers appeared to be a fair result in a game of high quality. On this evidence, both teams will have valid aspirations to be involved in the promotion conversation come the end of the season. For the moment though Nenagh sit on top of the division, a position they could only have dreamed about a few short weeks ago. They now have two weeks to prepare for a home showdown with second-placed Old Belvedere when the league resumes on October 19th.