Nenagh Ormond v Connemara 29th October 2011
It was a case of all that could go wrong for Connemara did go wrong for Connemara in Nenagh on Saturday last. Looking in retrospect it’s clear that it would have been very difficult for Connemara to match the level of performance shown against Ards. But no one expected the margin of defeat to be so large, credit must go to Nenagh, who mercilessly punished Connemara’s mistakes.
Nenagh started the game in whirlwind fashion, registering a try after barely three minutes. Some neat back play saw Nenagh take advantage of an overlap and charge home for the games opener, and fly half Dan Fogarty dually added to extra’s to make it 7-0. There was a ferocious cross wind blowing throughout the game which made kicking conditions extremely difficult, nevertheless Connemara fly half Sean Joyce was extremely close with three first half efforts, as the kicks drifted inches wide one began to think it just wasn’t Connemara’s day. Connemara spent big periods of the first half on the Nenagh line but just couldn’t force their way over due to some resolute Nenagh defending. Connemara lacked their usual penetration on Saturday, this was polar opposite to Nenagh who exploited every opportunity. The first half finished 17-3 to Nenagh. Connemara started the second half much better and broke the line on various occasions through winger David McDonagh and full back Alan Keogh, unfortunately support arrived a second too late each time and the attacks petered out to nothing. Connemara consistently attacked Nenagh’s line, and were eventually rewarded when Sean Joyce crossed after a great run by Alan Keogh.
Just when Connemara were building some momentum Nenagh hit again. It was a feature of Nenagh’s game; soaking up pressure before hitting with devastating effect.
It was a game of many penalties and Nenagh out half Dan Fogarty had the game of his life, slotting 100% of his kicks, which were all given due to unusual Connemara ill-discipline. Despite Nenagh’s lead being unusable Connemara battled gallantly and were rewarded when winger David McDonagh crossed for a well deserved try.
Nenagh made sure of a bonus point late on when they crossed after some poor Connemara tackling to take the score to 40-15. Connemara left with nothing but they can take some positives from the game, Martin Flaherty & Bernard Keaney performed well in place of injured duo David McHugh and Richie Byrne. Connemara will also be pleased with their two tries, meaning they have scored at least two tries in every game this season, but it could have been much more on the day.
John O’Sullivan
Connemara Team:
1: Eugene Conroy
2: Alan Pryce
3: Emmet Ferrons
4: Kevin Keogh
5: Martin Faherty
6: Barry Gibbons
7: Bernard Keaney
8: Kevin Ward
9: David Keogh
10: Sean Joyce
11: Richard Bourke
12: Paddy Madden
13: Benny Bester
14: Jerome Harimate
15: Alan Keogh
Replacements:
James Mannion
Jack Vaughan
David McDonagh
Alex Lee
