Nenagh Ormond RFC Vs. Thurles RFC – Friendly
Nenagh RFC 21 – Thurles RFC 50
On a wet and miserable day Sunday last, Nenagh hosted the Thurles First XV in an end of season Friendly as both sides prepare for their respective Cup Competitions, with Nenagh Ormond in the Semi Final of the Munster Junior Plate & Thurles in the Final of the Munster Junior Challenge Shield where they await the winners of Mallow & Abbeyfeale, who’s game was once again postponed yesterday.
Thurles won the toss and decided to play with the aid of the wind in the first half. Thurles produced some great rugby in the first half to which Nenagh had no answer to and we rewarded with tries from Nicky Irwin, Ross Crystal, Shane Moloney, Peter Coman and John Lillis, with Lillis adding 4 out of 5 conversions for a half time score of 0-33.
Both sides made a number of changes at half time and Nenagh started to make their mark early on, scoring 2 excellently worked tries, both of which were converted from difficult angles, 14-33.
Thurles re-grouped once again and worked their way up the field, from a lineout, they secured their own ball and a monster drive in the form of a maul from 30 yards out saw Dwayne Stanley, who was playing his second game in less than 24hrs having played a key role in the 2nds game the evening before, emerge with the ball in hand for another 5-pointer.
In the closing quarter, Aidan Dwyer & John Lillis were the beneficiaries at the end of two very well worked team scores either side of a third Nenagh try which again was slotted from the corner from the Ormond Out-Half.
Despite the inclement weather conditions and both sides missing a few regulars, this game was of huge benefit to both clubs in their search for end of season silverware and both sets of management would have been happy with the quality of play when both sides were able to keep control of the ball in the wet conditions.
We would like to thank Nenagh Ormond for accommodating us and would hope they got as much benefit out of the test as our own team and would like to wish them luck in their upcoming fixture.
Thurles await the winners of Mallow and Abbeyfeale in the final of the Munster Junior Challenge Shield, keep an eye on the Munster Website and the Thurles RFC Facebook page for further updates as the First Team aim to win Silverware in successive seasons, all support would be appreciated as soon as a date & time is confirmed.
Thurles Scorers: Nicky Irwin, Ross Crystal, Peter Coman, Shane Moloney, Dwayne Stanley, Aidan Dwyer (1 Try Each), John Lillis (2 Tries & 5 Conversions).
Thurles Squad vs Nenagh: 1. Ger McCormack 2. Dave Kelly 3. Colm Skehan 4. Phil Kelly 5. Colin Feeley 6. Ciaran Ryan 7. Dwayne Stanley 8. Joey Kelly 9. Nicky Irwin 10. Aidan Dwyer 11. Tommy Connolly 12. Shane Moloney 13. Peter Coman 14. Ross Crystal 15. John Lillis 16. Shane Nugent 17. Rory O’Sullivan 18. Mark Cummins 19. Larry O’Gorman 20. James Ryan
