AIL Match Report: Old Belvedere RFC 61 – 12 Nenagh Ormond RFC
Energia Men’s AIL Division 1 (a) Round 18 .
Old Belvedere RFC ; 61, Nenagh Ormond RFC ; 12 .
Sat April 4th , 2.30pm K .O .
Ollie Campbell park, Anglesea rd, D.4
Match referee: Rob Mc Greer, IRFU .
Storm Dave hit Ireland on Saturday morning but it was an Old Belvedere Hurricane that knocked Nenagh for 9 at Ollie Campbell park , ripping through its Defences before blowing it away in a 7’s style open ‘ harem scarem ‘ try fest!
This final AIL match of a long season was played in mild conditions on a dry, firm sod but with a capricious diagnol / cross field wind.
A minutes silence was observed before kick off in memory of Frank ( ‘Floss’) Lynch , a life long and proud Old Belvedere supporter.
It was all Nenagh in the opening 7 minutes who threw caution to the ..errrr… wind! After getting a foothold in the Old Belvedere half with some strong surges in broken field play by right wing Davey Gleeson, Nenagh won a penalty on 7 minutes. Outhalf Charlie O’Doherty kicked to the left hand corner pavilion side some 20 meters out. The line out throw was taken at the back by John Brislane and a maul was formed. Some phases later the ball was spun out of a ruck close to the try line from right towards the left touchline. Dashing Old Belvedere winger Jack Keating read the risky miss pass, leapt high to intercept , then took off from deep inside his own 22 turning his pursuer inside out galloping from
Coast to coast to score the first try which was converted from the touch line by Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Meredith. 7 nil.
3 minutes later Old Belvedere, once again transitioned from Defence to attack. Lock Paddy Dowling stole a Nenagh line out throw deep in the Old Belvedere half RDS side and sent Old Belvedere on the attack. Left wing Hugh Wilkinson put Old Belvedere on the front foot and into the Nenagh half with a fine break up the left tramline. Jaden ( ‘Doddsie’ ) Beckett then provided the thrust for this particular score when he carried hard infield in contact making vital meters after the tackle before off loading to Jack Keating who passed to Andre Ryan who found Josh Ericsson on his inside. The wing forward claimed the second try out wide on the right hand terrace side. Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Meredith nailed the tricky touch line conversion to extend the Home sides advantage to 14 zero , and counting.
On 19 minutes attacking up the left hand side, and from close range Old Belvedwere second row Fionn Mc Wey punched up hard and with supporting lines in this act from wing forward Tom Mulcair and number 8 Will Mc Donaald it was the giant lock himself, Fionn Mc Wey who appropriately finished off the move almost knocking over the left upright as he crashed over the try line! Once again Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Merdith converted , this time from in front of the posts , 21 – 0.
On 23 minutes Old Belvedere turned over a Nenagh attack when Centaur Jayden ( ‘Doddys’ ) Beckett picked off a loose Nenagh pass in midfield just inside the Nenagh 10-meter line. The manhorse offloaded out of the tackle with a slam dunk styled pass to right wing Jack Keating whom ran a diagnol line through the Nenagh ‘D’ before a kick chase and gather doing well to ground the ball over the tryline out wide to the right to claim his second and try number 4 for his team. The 4 try bonus point was thus secured early in the second quarter. Another superb touchline conversion from Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Meredith out wide on the right hand touch line put further distance between the sides at 28 nil.
It was clear that Nenagh were trying to play too much rugby in their own half, forcing it when it wasnt on and as a result dropping passes and getting turned over at will. An example of this profligacy was seen on 27 minutes when attacking off a line out deep in the Old Belvedere half terrace side, Nengah put width on the ball going across the try line from left to right, through the phases, only to lose hold of the ball in contact where Old Belvederes Andre Ryan picked up the crumbs allowing the Home side off the hook!
However, the visitors did finally breach the Home sides defense. On 31 minutes a box kick, fittingly from scrum half Luke Kerr, just inside his own half far side wasn’t dealt with by Old Belvedere and the pocket rocket chasing up gathered the loose ball to sprint Home dotting down to the right of the posts to give the Nenagh support something to shout about . 28 – 5.
Three minutes later and Old Belvedere were on the attack again . This time off multi phase ball with a strong carry from wing forward Tom Mulcair getting through the heavy traffic in the Nenagh half despite having his shirt tugged , off loading out the back door to Josh Ericcsson who himself carried deep before popping the ball to Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Merdith lurking on his right shoulder who scored under the sticks. The outhalf adding the extras and taking the home side out to 35 – 5 .
Just on the stroke of half time from a scrum on their own 10 meter line, off first phase, a nice pull back between centres of excellence Jayden ( ‘Doddise’ ) Beckett and Andre Ryan saw Ryan accelerate through the defensive line and up the left hand tram line far side passing to Jack Keating in support whom then offloaded to Ryan again juggling the ball overhead at full tilt to race in under the posts to the left. Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Merdith converted from in front of the posts to increase the Home lead even further at halftime, 42 – 5.
Half Time 42 – 5
With the Home side attacking the Anglesea rd end for the second half there was no score ( from either side ) for a full 5 minutes ! With the wind still raging across and upfield it was difficult to make out just which side it was favouring!
Nenagh began the second half better, tightening up their loose defense and putting more structure on their play . The visitors almost and should have scored the opening try of the second half . From an Old Belvedere attack off a scrum between the Nenagh 10 meter and half way line the ball went to deck and left wing Brian O’Rourke scooped it up on his 22 meter line . Off he went up the left hand side through a fractured Home defence before putting in a well measured kick chase deep into the Old Belvedere half. The speedy left winger followed up collecting his own kick just meters from the Old Belvedere try line with an excellent piece of skill and looked odds on to score only for Superman for the day Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Meredith to appear out of nowhere and tackle the flying Nenagh winger hauling him down just short of the try line .A last ditch try saving tackle it most certainly was. Old Belvedere won the penalty from the resulting ruck and cleared their lines.
On 45 minutes a big carry from Old Belvedere loose head prop Hugh O’Malley put Old Belvedere on the front foot and attacking in the Nenagh half. Some phases later the big Prop once again played a part in the next Old Belvedere score when he took it up and punched hard before Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ )Merdith threw a wide miss pass along the three quarter line for flanker Tom Mulcair to latch onto , drawing in defenders and creating gaps for a try assist allowing full back James Dillon to canter Home to the left of the posts for the first try of the second half. 47 – 5.
On 57 minutes Nenagh were penalised for offside when defending in their own half. David ( ‘Wilko’ ) Wilkinson elected to kick to the right hand corner far side .With the throw in just inside the Nenagh 22 meter line taken by Paddy Dowling at 4, Andre Ryan trucked it up the middle releasing to Jack Keating who in turn off loaded to left wing Hugh Wilkinson , who scampered through some powder puff tackling to score under the sticks . David (‘Wilko’) Wilkinson added the conversion to put the score at 54 – 5.
With neither pack dominating at scrum time throwing into the line out was a lottery in the prevailing windy conditions . A Nenagh line out throw wisely, to the front , on 60 minutes just inside the Old Belvedere half followed by a good maul put the visitors in the red zone . Some phases later the Nenagh pack rumbled over the Old Belvedere try line close in . The try was scored by replacement Matthew Burke . Out half Charlie O’Flaherty converted to put the score 54 – 12 going into the final quarter.
However, Old Belvedere had the last word in this encounter . On 79 minutes Ryan ( ‘ aka The Beast of old Belvedere ‘ ) Mc Mahon carried strong before Will Mc Donald skipped through the middle of a ruck and raced deep into open country . Looking around for support , the number 8 offloaded to James O’Dwyer who took up the baton and sprinted further into the Nenagh half before getting scragged down. Josh Ericcson following up in support, picked up the loose ball and with no one Home cantered in untouched under the sticks for his second try of the match. David ( ‘Wilko’) Wilkinson added the conversion to leave the final score 61 -12 . Phew!
Congratulations to Quenton O’Neale and his back room team, and of course to the entire squad for consolidating their promotion with a solid first season back in the top flight. You sense that they will be pushing for a playoff position in 12 months time.
‘Lordie.
