Much-changed Shannon RFC side lose to Nenagh Ormond in Charity Cup final

A MUCH-CHANGED Shannon RFC side came up short in their bid to regain the North Munster Charity Cup when suffering a heavy 52-14 defeat to Nenagh Ormond at New Ormond Park on Thursday evening.

Shannon, lining out just five days after their crucial All-Ireland League Division 1A relegation play-off win over Highfield made a significant number of changes to their squad for their trip to North Tipperary.

And the experimental-looking Parish side had to give second best to an impressive Nenagh outfit who were winning the Cup for a second time following their 2018 final success.

Shannon reached the Limerick Charity Cup final by defeating local rivals Young Munster 16-8 in their semi-final which was played last September, while Nenagh Ormond overcame Old Crescent at the last four stage.

Nenagh had finished in third place in Division 2A of the AIL at the end of the regular season. However, the Tipp side lost out to Blackrock College in the promotion play-offs.

Nenagh Ormond also reached the Munster Senior Cup final in March where they suffered a narrow defeat to Young Munster at Thomond Park.

Nenagh laid the foundation for their convincing win in the opening half after which the home side enjoyed a significant 24-7 advantage.

Ormond raced into a 24-0 advantage after 28 minutes, scoring three tries, the first of which arrived as early as the third minute. All three tries were converted, while the home side also added a first half penalty.

Shannon gave themselves a chance of staging a dramatic second half comeback when striking for their opening try on 35 minutes with Luke Moylan storming over from close range while, John Bateman added the conversion.

A fourth Nenagh Ormond try shortly after the restart saw the home side regain the momentum and push their advantage out to 24 points at 31-7.

Shannon, who were seeking an 18th Charity Cup final success this season, did hit back with their second converted try of the game, scored by Myles Lawlor with Bateman again converting for 31-14.

It proved to be as close as Shannon got to their opponents in the decider as the home side added three converted tries to ease clear and claim a second Charity Cup success as the curtain came down on the domestic senior club rugby season.

Originally known as the Hospital Cup, the Limerick Charity Cup competition was introduced in 1924 by Garryowen’s Jack O’Sullivan to raise funds for Barrington and St John’s Hospital in Limerick.

A dynamic character, Jack was a founder playing member of Garryowen, going onto play for Munster and winning two Irish caps. He also won five Munster Senior Cup medals.

He went onto become President of Garryowen, the Munster Branch and the Union, and was responsible for bringing the first international game to Limerick in the late 1800s, with Ireland playing Wales on that occasion.

The name of the competition changed five years after it was introduced to encapsulate other charities that became involved. Garryowen were the first winners of the competition.

NENAGH ORMOND: Conor O'Brien; Patrick Scully, Willie Coffey (Capt), John Healy, David Gleeson; Derek Corcoran, Nicky Irwin; Mikey Doran, Dylan Murphy, Jack O'Keeffe; Jake O'Kelly, Kevin O'Flaherty; Rob Buckley, John O'Flaherty, John Hayes. Replacements: Niall O'Gorman Paudie Bourke; Joe Coffey; Conor McMahon; John Brislane; Peter O'Connor; Evan Murphy; Mason Cawley.

SHANNON RFC: Darren Gavin; Liam O'Shanahan, Alan Flannery, Jack O'Donnell, Daniel Hurley; John Bateman, Aran Hehir; Cathal Hayes, Shane Carew, Luke Rigney; Thomas Lillis, David Maher; Luke Moylan, Ian Brown, Odhran Ring. Replacements: Darren Ferrar, Nathan Walsh, Matthew Burke, Colm Heffernan, Christian Storey, Eoghan O'Connor, Myles Lawlor, Kieran Kennedy.

REFEREE: Joy Neville (IRFU)