ENERGIA All-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 1B

Buccaneers 13 – Naas 11

After a break of four weeks the Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B resumed last Saturday, with Naas travelling to Dubarry Park, Athlone to face the league leaders Buccaneers. When these sides last met a thrilling game ensued, with Naas gaining a superb victory by three points. On this occasion, although the game was far from a classic, the closeness of the contest kept the interest alive with a winning margin of just two points.

Due to the conditions – heavy showers, with a biting winter wind – this was a stop start game with little in the way of flowing rugby. The majority of the attempts to play open rugby were made by Naas, with the home side more reliant on their big pack of forwards. The opening 20 minutes were largely uneventful with just one scoring chance created. This fell to Buccaneers after eight minutes, when they were awarded a penalty by referee Padraic Reddy after the Naas backs had strayed offside. However, their out-half Harry West pulled his kick to the right of the posts.

After 21 minutes the home side were almost in for the opening try of the game. A fine break by Josh O’Connor took play into the Naas 22, he passed on to Shane Layden who quickly fed Saul O’Carroll. The latter appeared certain to score but Charlie Sheridan had different ideas, and his superb covering tackle dislodged the ball from the attacking player with the line at his mercy.

In general though Buccaneers were happy to rely on their pack to gain yards, but time and after time they were met by a strong Naas defence with Stephen Lackey, David Benn, Cillian Dempsey and Ryan Casey to the fore. However, after 32 minutes they created the second chance of the game. Their scrum drove Naas back winning them a penalty, but for a second time Harry West was unable to make the most of the opportunity presented, again missing the penalty.

However, within sixty seconds the home side were in front. The resulting drop out was fielded by Ryan O’Meara, who surged forward before finding Sean O’Connell and the latter took play close to the Naas line. Buccaneers then opted to move the ball wide out their backline to Josh O’Connor who raced clear to finish off a fine move. This time West was successful with his kick, the accurate conversion putting them seven points in front. Naas responded immediately. Straight from the restart Buccaneers were penalised for holding on a ruck, and Craig Ronaldson made no mistake with the subsequent penalty to make the score 7-3 in favour of the home side, which was to be the interval score.

The visitors got a great start to the second half. Buccaneers knocked on the kick-off, and from the subsequent scrum Naas moved the ball into midfield, leading to the home side conceding a penalty for hands in the ruck. Again Ronaldson was on target to reduce the lead to just one point at 7-6. But Naas made an error after 58 minutes when they attempted to run a ball deep in their own 22, which led to them being penalised for holding on. From in front of the posts Harry West tapped over the penalty to restore the four point advantage for Buccaneers at 10-6, and the visitors were further behind after 66 minutes. The Bucs scrum-half Frankie Hopkins took a quick tap penalty which caught Naas momentarily unawares, and this led to the concession of a penalty for an infringement at the subsequent ruck. West was again successful with the penalty to stretch the lead to 13-6.

However, Naas set up a grandstand finish with a superb try after 73 minutes. From a line-out just outside the Bucs 22, a powerful driving maul drove the home side right back, the visitors then remained patient and went through a number of phases, before quickly moving the ball wide right out to Charlie Sheridan who finished off the move in style. Craig Ronaldson had the chance with the conversion to level the scores, but it was an extremely difficult kick in the conditions and one he was unsuccessful with. To their credit, Buccaneers saw out the remaining time without any major scares, and gained the important victory to retain their status at the top of the table.

Due to the conditions this was not a game that will live long in the memory. However, Naas have gone toe to toe with the league leaders on two consecutive occasions, winning one and narrowly losing the second, proving that they will be a match for anybody over the last eight games in the campaign. Next up for them is a home meeting with Armagh next Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is at 2.30pm and as always all support will be greatly appreciated.

Buccaneers: Shane Jennings, Josh O’Connor, Shane Layden, Stephen Mannion, Saul O’Carroll, Harry West, Frankie Hopkins, James Kelly, Steveni Lombard, Martin Staunton (capt), Ruairi Byrne, Danny Qualter, Sean O’Connell, Cian McCann, Ryan O’Meara. Replacements: Oisin Dolan, Cedric Fokam, Fionn McDonald, Michael Hanley, Will Reilly, Orrin Burgess.

Naas: Mark McDermott, Donal Conroy, Henry Smith, Craig Ronaldson, Charlie Sheridan, Bryan Croke, Oscar Cawley, Stephen Lackey, Tadgh Dooley, Peter King, Paul Monahan (capt), David Benn, Cillian Dempsey, Ryan Casey, Eoin Walsh. Replacements: Geoff McNeilis, Conor Doyle, Patrick O’Flaherty, Mark Dennis, Conor Halpenny, Matt Stapleton.

Referee: Padraic Reidy.

Photos: Thanks to Naas Rugby Photos (C)