U21 Donal Walsh Trophy

(H-T Nenagh Ormond U21 14 Shannon U21 15)

New Ormond Park

Referee Brían Bennett

Report by Enda Murphy

Nenagh Ormond U21s hosted Shannon U21s last Wednesday in the group stages of the Donal Walsh Trophy in a dress rehearsal for the North U21 League final to be played later in the season.  Shannon came into this game on the back of two games against Cork Con and Young Munster having amassed 66 points in both games while Nenagh had lost to the annually very strong UCC 41-28 in their only game of this competition to date.  Those in attendance were treated to an outstanding game of rugby that ebbed and flowed for the full 80 minutes.

Nenagh started the brighter of the two teams and dominated territory in the opening exchanges.  However, the Shannon defense stood up to the task with some big hits resulting in Nenagh handling errors allowing Shannon to clear their 22 on a number of occasions in the first 15 minutes.  Eventually Nenagh secured a lineout in the Shannon 22, and a strong rolling maul resulted in hooker Robbie Tynan opening the scoring followed by an excellent conversion from Darragh Gleeson for a 7-0 lead.

Shannon responded well with some strong carries in the middle of the field.  One such carry broke the Nenagh defensive line and quick ball from the subsequent ruck allowed Shannon second row Tommy O’Driscoll to power over under the posts.  The straightforward conversion tied the scores at 7-7.

Nenagh fought back again and an excellent Crossfield kick by Gleeson found Fionn Higgins out wide where he excellently stepped inside the Shannon cover to score under the posts.  Gleason added the extras to restore Nenagh’s 7 point lead.

Shannon came back again, and a penalty allowed them to kick to the Nenagh 5 metre line.  The resulting maul looked to be held at bay, but Shannon scrum half Rory McDermott scrambled over down the blind side to score in the corner.  The extras were missed leaving Nenagh with a narrow 2 point lead.

As the game approached half time, another strong carry by the Shannon forwards carried them 10 metres from the Nenagh line.  Nenagh disrupted the quick ruck ball illegally and the subsequent penalty was sensibly put between the posts by Shannon outhalf Aaron Byrnes to leave Shannon ahead 15-14 at half time.

It had been a thrilling first half, but the second half proved even better.  Shannon started the brighter when first their number 8 Kieran Shvaibovich powered over from close range to extend the lead to 8 points and shortly after their full back James Butler found space on the left wing to score in the corner to further extend the lead to 13 points.

Considering Shannon’s scoring prowess in their two previous games, it looked like they might pull away at this point, but Nenagh were having none of it.  First Ivan Struzia powered over from a close-in tapped penalty and then with 15 minutes Stephen Shaw spotted space down the narrow side and glided over.  Both were excellently converted, the first by Gleeson and the second by replacement Cillian Healy.  Nenagh led again by a single point 28-27.

Shannon came back again and an excellent maul from 15 metres out set up the platform for Patrick Flanney to score on the right wing. Byrnes added the extras to move them 6 points clear with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Again, Nenagh responded excellently, exploiting the narrow side on a number of occasions to get them into the Shannon 22.  The pressure eventually paid off with Fionn Higgins adding his second try to bring the gap back to a 1 point deficit.  Cillian Healy added a superb conversion and Nenagh led again by 35-34 with 3 minutes left on the clock.

It looked like Nenagh would hold out after the restart as they kept Shannon around the halfway line for a number of phases, but a penalty allowed Shannon to kick up towards the Nenagh 22.  Another strong maul brought Shannon up to within 5 metres and they exploited space on the right for replacement Mark Keane to score and with the extras added Shannon again lead by 6.

There was just enough time for a restart, but a high tackle gave Shannon the penalty they needed to kick the ball off the field and secure the win which leaves them top of the table on a maximum 15 points from 3 games while Nenagh have 3 bonus points for their two outings.  Next up is a trip to Dolphin towards the end of the month.  Having held their own against two of the toughest teams in the competition already, Nenagh will look to push on and work towards a knockout spot in this tournament, something well within their capabilities.

Scorers: Nenagh Ormond: Tries: Robbie Tynan, Fionn Higgins x 2, Ivan Struzia, Stephen Shaw; Con: Darragh Gleeson x 3, Cillian Healy x 2.
Shannon: Tries: Tommy O’Driscoll, Rory McDermott, Kieran Shvaibovich, James Butler, Patrick Flannery, Mark Keane; Cons: Aaron Byrne x 4; Pens: Aaron Byrne.

Nenagh Ormond: 15. Sam Cusack, 14. Alex Quinn, 13. Brehon O’Donnell, 12. Tristan Madden, 11. Fionn Higgins, 10. Darragh Gleeson, 9. Stephen Shaw, 1. Richie Whelan, 2. Robbie Tynan (c), 3. Ivan Struzia, 4. Ryan Gratton, 5. Cillian Ryan, 6. Paddy Dowling, 7. Charlie Grace, 8. Kedagh Broderick.
Replacements: 16. Frankie Butler, 17. Nicky Nie, 18. Luke Comerford O’Callaghan, 19. Darragh Townsend, 20. Conor Kearney, 21. Cillian Healy, 22. Luke McKenna, 23. Cathan Gaffney.

Shannon: 15. James Butler, 14. Patrick Flannery, 13 Marcus Moloney, 12. Danny Williamson, 11. Conor McCarthy, 10. Aaron Byrnes, 9. Rory McDermott, 1. Ronan Ryan, 2. Peter Dougan, 3. Michael Donnelly, 4. Ben Noonan, 5. Tommy O’Driscoll, 6. Sean Horrigan, 7. Alex Kennedy, 8. Kieran Shvaibovich.
Replacements: 16. Adam O’Shaughnessy, 17. Darragh Leyden, 18. Cian Enright, 19. Conor Ryan, 20. Eoin O’Callaghan, 21. Sean O’Halloran, 22. Mark Keane, 23. Sam Brown.