Nenagh 2nd XV 26 Garryowen 7
Nenagh entertained Garryowen under lights at home on Tuesday night last week in the Munster Senior League Division 1. This was a very good work out and while Nenagh were comfortable winners in the end, the contest on the field was much closer than the final score would suggest.
The home side had some early dominance with both lineout and scrum functioning well which provided good field position. With some strong picks and drives close to the line Robbie Tynan got over for the first score in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed to leave the score at 5-nil. Nenagh then won a penalty from another dominant scrum. Derek Corcoran took a quick tap and made huge ground before offloading to Cian Ryan who showed a clean pair of heels to get over the try line. Evan Fitzpatrick added the extras for a 12-nil lead. Garryowen came more into the game and a few minutes later they showed how dangerous they could be. From a good turnover they moved the ball through a number of phases and scored a nice try to the left of the posts. The conversion was added to leave the half time score 12-7.
In the second half Nenagh Ormond kept the pressure on the opposition. After another good lineout and maul and some great interaction between the forwards Robbie Tynan got over the line for his second try. Evan again added the extras for a 19-7 lead. Both sides introduced their benches, and the high standard remained throughout. Garryowen attacked well but some stray passes turned the ball over more than once and allowed Nenagh to clear their lines. Late on in the game a penalty won by Nenagh was kicked to 10 metres from the Garryowen line. Frankie Butler at hooker, after replacing the impressive Jack Devaney, found his mark and Darragh Tucker at the back of the mall did well to secure the fourth and bonus point try. Evan kicked excellently from the touch line to give a final score of 26-7.
Player of the match must go to Patrick Scully who had an excellent performance in both defence and attack with Craig Hannon also having an impressive game in his first outing in a Nenagh jersey.
Team: 1 Sean Frawley, 2 Jack Devanny, 3 Matthew Burke, 4 Craig Hannon, 5 Kevin O’Gorman (C), 6 Fionn O’Meara, 7 Robbie Tynan, 8 John Brislane (VC), 9 Cian Ryan, 10 Derek Corcoran, 11 Conor McGrath, 12 Patrick Scully, 13 Brian O’Rourke, 14 Alex Moloney, 15 Evan Fitzpatrick, 16 Frankie Butler, 17 Ivan Struzia, 18 Darragh Townsend, 19 Darragh Tucker, 20 Luke Graham, 21 Paul Colleran, 22 Joseph Gleeson.
