St Flannan’s brought their A game in defeating a well-fancied St Josephs Nenagh CBS 32-20 in the O’Brien Cup final.
Although this is only St Flannan’s second year in existence, they wanted to right the wrongs of last year’s final against Hamilton’s High School, Bandon where they were beaten by a last-minute penalty.
Nenagh – a side which has won numerous competitions in recent years – started the game with a deep kick-off that Flannan’s exited. The early exchanges saw varied play from both teams as they tried to build phases, with bone crunching tackling on display.
St Flannan’s were first to draw blood on the scoreboard however, with Nico Roos making great ground despie the attentions of a few Nenagh defenders. That carry gave St Flannan’s good go-forward ball which allowed Odhran Flynn to break through and score Flannan’s first try which was converted by Cian McAllister.
Nenagh from the kick-off keep the pressure on Flannan’s driving them deep into their half.
Monstruous runs from Cian O’Connor and Jamie Ryan kept Flannan’s on the front foot and a high tackle by a Nenagh player, resulted in a yellow card and penalty kick, converted by Cian McAllister to give Flannan’s a 10-0 lead.
St Flannan’s kept the pressure off with great kicking from Cian McAllister, Diarmuid Boyle and a 65-plus meter exit by Odhran Flynn from his own 5-meter line.
However as expected, Nenagh would not roll over and a scrum from the Tipperary side in the Flannan’s 22 resulted in the ball going through the hands and for a try wide in the corner, followed by a missed conversion attempt.
Nenagh’s purple patch continued despite being confronted by relentless tackling from Flannan’s with big hits by Jack Dillon, Sean Maher and Darragh Fahy. Nenagh finally found a gap in the Flannan’s defensive line to sneak in for a second try, and added the two extra points.
The Clare men felt hard-done by when a Cian O’Connor tackle was deemed high by the referee resulting in a yellow card. With Cian in the sinbin, the St Flannan’s defensive line was immense in keeping Nenagh out however finally there was a penalty succession, which would give Nenagh a 15-10 half-time lead.
From the second half kick-off, the Bryan Murphy-coached Flannan’s side piled the pressure on Nenagh keeping them in their own half. The pressure was already telling when an attacking scrum on the 22 saw the ball going wide and Darragh Fahey worked hard to score in the corner. Cian McAllister’s touch-line conversion just pulled to the side.
Nenagh kept working hard to try and get a foothold in the Flannan’s half, but they continued to be repelled by the likes of Dylan Moroney, Sean Cassidy, Luke Fitzgearld and Harry O’Donoghue with brilliant jackling by Jamie Ryan and Odhran Flynn.
Accurate line-out throwing by Paddy Ennis and a solid scrum throughout the game gave Flannan’s a great attacking platform.
From a Flannan’s scrum on Nenagh’s 10m-line, a break from Odhran Flynn had the Nenagh’s defence scrambling. Good support from Flannan’s allowed them to go through the phases, with Jack Dillion running in Flannan’s third try, with the conversion executed by Cian McAllister.
Nenagh fought resolutely to get back into the game, but Flannan’s did what they could to play the game in Nenagh’s half of the field.
From a good attack from a scrum in the Nenagh 22, Jamie Ryan was stopped just short of the Nenagh line. Quick and accurate passing by Ruairi Keogh led to Luke Fitzgerald scoring Flannan’s fourth try with the extra two points added by Cian McAllister.
Although Flannan’s had now a bit of breathing room, Nenagh did not give up and from a mixture of their good play and a bit of Flannan’s indiscipline, Nenagh scored their third try but didn’t convert to extra two points.
With 10 minutes left and only a nine-point lead, St Flannan’s had unloaded their bench and every Flannan’s player played out of their skin. A crucial penalty was converted by Man of the Match Cian McAllister with five minutes left to ensure the O’Brien Cup crossed the Shannon to Clare.
St Flannans Scorers: Odhran Flynn 5 (1T), Darragh Fahy 5 (1T), Jack Dillion 5 (1T), Luke Fitzgerald 5 (1T), Cian McAllister 12 (3C, 2P)
Nenagh: 3T, 1C, 1P
St Flannan’s: 1. Nicolas Roos 2. Paddy Ennis 3. Dylan Moroney 4. Sean Maher 5. Cian O’Connor 6. Sean Cassidy 7. Jamie Ryan 8. Luke Fitzgearld 9. Ruairi Keogh 10. Cian McAllister 11. Darragh Fahy 12. Jack Dillon 13. Odhran Flynn (Captain) 14. Harry O’Donoghue 15. Diarmuid Boyle 16. Tadhg Kearns 17. Kian MacGearailt 18. Conor Lyons 19. Frankie Toner 20. Leo Boyle 21. Michael Cotter 22. Ciaran Sheehan 23. Dylan Nugent
Extended Panel: Cillian McInerney; Marco Cleary; Paddy Phelan; Evan Casey; James Maloney; Jack Vaughan; Brian Lynch; Cillian Carnochan
