ENERGIA All-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1B

Naas 29 – Navan 7

After a break of five weeks Naas resumed their All- Ireland League campaign when they hosted Navan last Friday night. They say the sign of a good side is to win when playing poorly, and that was certainly the case for Naas here. They were dominated in both the possession and territory stakes for the majority of the game by Navan, yet managed to win by 22 points, securing the all important try bonus point into the bargain.

The game was played on dry, crisp Winter night and as always when these two sides meet there was a large crowd in attendance. The story of the first half is easily told. Straight from the start Navan took the game to Naas, pinning the hosts back into their own half and launching wave after wave of attacks. However despite all their possession Navan failed to create one clear-cut chance, and this was down to the superb Naas defence, with the likes of Paul Monahan, Adam Coyle and Paulie Tolofua to the fore.

After 28 minutes of sustained pressure the visitors were dealt a sickening blow.  They attempted to move the ball out wide but when the attack broke down Donal Conroy was on to the loose ball in an instant. Navan had no chance of catching the Naas winger who sprinted clear from deep in his own half to score under the posts. Peter Osborne added the conversion and Naas led by seven points. 

Navan went straight back on the attack and may have scored after 33 minutes when Sean McEntagart broke free but he knocked on as he attempted to offload and Naas were able to clear. The visitors were punished for spurning this chance four minutes later. From a Naas line-out Donal Conroy split the Navan defence apart when taking a great line. He was stopped just short of the line, Navan were then penalised for hands in the subsequent ruck, and Peter Osborne tapped over the easy penalty attempt. That brought the first half scoring to a conclusion and soon afterwards referee Dermot Blake blew the half-time whistle, with Naas leading by ten points and the Navan supporters shaking their heads in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

Obviously the Naas coach Johne Murphy was not happy and with his displeasure ringing in their ears Naas came out for the second half a different side. From the restart Navan lock Colin Carpenter knocked on and when the loose ball was played in an offside position Naas were awarded a penalty. This was dispatched to touch and from the line-out the Naas pack had a series of pick and goes before the ball was passed to out-half Byran Croke. He put in a delightful crossfield kick that was superbly caught by Sam Cahill to score in the corner. Peter Osborne struck the post with his conversion effort but Naas led by 15 points.

However just two minutes later Naas suffered a blow when Gary Kavanagh received a yellow card for what the referee deemed to be a dangerous tackle. Straight away Navan made their numerical advantage count. The subsequent line-out was kicked to touch, from the line-out the visitors set up a driving maul which powered over the line with Jack Nelson being awarded the try. Paddy Fox was successful with his conversion attempt to narrow the gap to 15-7.

However any thoughts of a Navan comeback were snuffed out on 55 minutes. Again the pack made the hard yards before Naas tried another crossfield kick. It appeared that Navan would deal with this comfortably as they had three defenders waiting for the dropping ball, but nobody told Donal Conroy who soared over all of them to catch the ball before finishing in the corner. Peter Osborne made a difficult conversion look easy by splitting the posts and Naas had extended their lead to 22 points to seven.

Navan to their credit never gave up and they again dominated possession right up to the finish. But their night was summed up in injury-time when after they again moved the ball out wide, they again found Donal Conroy lurking. The Naas player gleefully accepted a wayward pass by Harry Hester and he sprinted almost the length of the pitch to score, securing the try bonus point for Naas. Peter Osborne ended the scoring for the night when he again successfully converted leaving the final score 29-7 in favour of Naas.

Although not playing at their best Naas were ruthless in taking their chances and this combined to a solid, immoveable defence saw them grind out this victory. The win moves them up to third in the table and in decent shape for a title challenge with eight games remaining. Next up for Naas is a trip to St. Mary’s College next Saturday afternoon. This has a 2.30pm kick-off and as always all support will be greatly appreciated.

Naas: Peter Osborne (capt), Donal Conroy, Gary Kavanagh, Craig Ronaldson, Sam Cahill, Bryan Croke, Tim Murphy, Conor Doyle, John Sutton, Adam Coyle, Pat O’Flaherty, Paul Monahan, Ryan Casey, Will O’Brien, Paulie Tolofua. Replacements: Conor Johnson, Stephen Lackey, David Benn, Cillian Dempsey, Conor Halpenny, Matt Stapleton.

Navan: Paddy Fox, Rory Gordon, Sean McEntagart, Harry Hester, Ben McEntagart, Ben Daly, Mark Farrell, Niall Farrelly, Jack Nelson, Eoin King, Colm Carpenter, Conor Hand, Shane Faulkner, Ronan Meegan, Conor Farrell (capt). Replacements: David Clarke, Alex McGoey, Andrew Doyle, Hardius Van Eeden, Colm O’Reilly, Keith Kavanagh.

Referee: Dermot Blake.

Photo Credit: Naas Rugby Photos