ENERGIA All-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1B PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL

Old Wesley 36 – Naas 37

Naas are just 80 minutes away from joining the elite of Irish Rugby after a stunning success over Old Wesley in the Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B play-off semi-final in Energia Park last Saturday afternoon. With both sides renowned for their open, adventurous style of play this was a game that was eagerly anticipated, but nobody could have predicted the classic that was to unfold before them. It had everything you could wish for in a game of rugby, sublime skill, courage, heart, desire and no lack of drama.

Naas stormed out of the blocks and were ten points in front before Old Wesley knew what had hit them. They scored the opening try after just two minutes. Following a high tackle on Sam Cahill, the visitors kicked to touch and the line-out was won by Pat O’Flaherty. Paulie Tolofua then charged at the Old Wesley defence and when he was hauled down, a long skip pass by Tim Murphy found Gary Kavanagh who raced clear to score. Peter Osborne added the conversion, and the same player was on target with a penalty attempt on seven minutes to give Naas a 10-0 lead.

Old Wesley were stung by this start, but they slowly worked their way back into the game and responded with a fine try on 13 minutes. From a scrum on half-way, they attacked to the left and full-back Alex Molloy joined the line to give them an overlap. He shipped the ball on to David Poff who in turn found the supporting Ben Murphy who sprinted clear to score. Ian Cassidy added the conversion to reduce the gap to 10-7 in favour of Naas. Within five minutes the home side took the lead. They were awarded a penalty when Naas collapsed a driving maul and they turned down the shot at goal to go to touch. From the line-out they went through a series of phases before prop Cronan Gleeson crashed over from close range. Cassidy again kicked the conversion to leave his side 14-10 in front.

Naas lost Donal Conroy who received a yellow card for a high tackle on 23 minutes but within sixty seconds the sides were equalled numerically when Old Welsey centre James O’Donovan also received a yellow for a similar challenge on Gary Kavanagh. Little did we know it at the time but this was to have dire consequences for Old Wesley later in the game. Peter Osborne took a shot at goal with the penalty awarded for the high tackle, and he made no mistake to reduce the Old Wesley lead to just a point at 14-13, and he gave Naas the lead on the stroke of half-time with another penalty which was awarded for hands in a ruck. This left the score at 16-14 to Naas when referee Stuart Gaffikin blew the half-time whistle to give the players and supporters a well earned break after a blistering opening half.

Old Wesley suffered a huge blow within 90 seconds of the resumption. The visitors attacked down the left wing before James O’Donovan slapped down a Naas pass. The referee had no doubt it was a deliberate knock on and showed the player a yellow card. As this was his second of the game it was upgraded to red and the home side had to play the remainder of the match with 14 men.

Naas quickly made the most of this man advantage. On 45 minutes a lovely break by Tim Murphy took play into the Wesley 22, when he was stopped he offloaded to Craig Ronaldson who quickly transferred the ball to Sam Cahill and the latter sprinted away from the defence to score. The conversion by Osborne extended the lead to 23-14.

Although Old Wesley responded with an Ian Cassidy penalty on 47 minutes, Naas were to score another two tries in the next 15 minutes. Firstly a lovely dummy by Tim Murphy created a huge hole in the Old Wesley defence and the Naas player did not need a second invitation to take full advantage to score under the posts. Then on 62 minutes a Naas five-yard scrum was followed by a series of phases before Donal Conroy dived over for a fourth Naas try of the afternoon. With Peter Osborne converting both Naas now looked to have an unassailable lead of 37-17. However, it was not to be that easy.

With nine minutes to go following a driving maul Ben Burns powered over for a try which replacement Paddy McKenzie converted. This appeared to be little more than a consolation score for the home side but within 60 seconds they scored again, and what a score it was. From deep inside their own half a brilliant break by Alex Molloy split the Naas defence apart, Reuben Pim then took over and brought play up to the Naas 22 before passing to Brendan Monahan who raced away to score. With McKenize again converting suddenly it was game on again, with just the one score between the teams with Naas leading 37-31.

It created a whirlwind finish with Old Welsey now sensing that an unlikely victory was theirs for the taking. They threw everything at Naas and this barrage of attacks saw the visitors receive two yellow cards. The 13 Naas men could not hold out the home side and Charlie O’Regan scored in the corner. The whole season for both sides came down to one kick. If Paddy McKenzie kicked the conversion Old Welsey were through, if he missed Naas would march on to the final. Luckily for Naas, McKenzie pulled his kick well left, the full-time whistle was blown immediately afterwards and there were jubilant scenes as Naas celebrated a magnificent victory.

Although the finish was dramatic there is no doubting that Naas deserved this victory. All 23 Naas players dominated their opposite number and for the majority of the match Naas were the better side. The reward for them is a place in the final. This will be held in Thomand Park next Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm when they face Shannon. Games between these two sides are invariably thrillers and there is no reason to expect next Saturday’s contest to be any different. As always, all support will be greatly appreciated.

Old Wesley: Alex Molloy, Thomas O’Callaghan, James O’Donovan, Eoin Deegan, David Poff, Ian Cassidy, Ben Murphy, Harry Noonan, Ben Burns, Cronan Glesson, J.J O’Dea, Iain McGann (capt),Will Fay, Josh Pim, Reuben Pim.

Replacements: Robert Byrne, Sam Kenny, David Young, Alastair Hoban, Brian Short, Paddy McKenzie, Charlie O’Regan, Brendan Monahan.

Naas: Peter Osborne (capt), Donal Conroy, Gary Kavanagh, Craig Ronaldson, Sam Cahill, Bryan Croke, Tim Murphy, Adam Coyle, John Sutton, Peter King, Paul Monahan, Patrick O’Flaherty, Cillian Dempsey, Will O’Brien, Ryan Casey.

Replacements: Conor Johnson, Jack Barry, Conor Doyle, David Benn, Paulie Tolofua, Conor Halpenny, Matt Stapleton, Fionn Higgins.

Referee: Stuart Gaffikin.

Photos: © Naas Rugby Photos