Bonus point defeat is a poor return for Navan side

Navan’s latest All-Ireland League Div 3 defeat will be viewed as one that got away as the Meath side slumped to their third successive loss away to a fortunate Barnhall outfit in Leixlip on Saturday afternoon. The five-point defeat earned Navan their first point of the campaign, but that is scant consolation because this was a tie they could have and probably should have won with plenty to spare. They dominated for the majority of the contest, but a combination of a lack of experience, some indecisiveness and concession of foolish penalties proved costly. The only try of the contest and ultimately the decisive score arrived after just five minutes when heavy pressure on the Navan line was rewarded with a push-over try for beefy prop Jim Nolan. Luckily for Navan, place-kicking winger Adam Hughes didn’t bring his shooting boots and Navan were able to stay in touch during a difficult opening quarter. Throughout the period Navan were camped inside their own 22 as Barnhall looked very comfortable and patient. However, the longer the contest progressed the more confident Navan became. Boosted by a sound defence they improved progressively. Despite being the better team Navan failed to break the try line with mistakes and misjudgements denying them the scores that would have secured the victory. Some of the most notable missed opportunities were when Mark Harrington knocked forward in a promising position inside the Barnhall five-metre line after 27 minutes and three minutes later the referee harshly penalised Navan as they rucked the ball towards the Barnhall line. With 14 minutes to go Andrew Keating showed his inexperience at this level when he opted to retain possession despite having Kia Beckham free on the outside with a safe run to the line and subsequently Navan illegally used hands in the ruck. That lack of experience and penchant to give away penalties at crucial stages hurt Navan. As Navan piled on the pressure in search of a winning try in the closing stages Keating was sin-binned and on another occasion off-the-ball nonsense saw a scoreable penalty overturned. Close contests like this one will be a learning curve for Navan and Saturday’s performance was a major improvement on the displays that saw the team comprehensively beaten by Wanderers and Sundays Well. John Davis kicking from the hands was immaculate and Martin Coll’s penalties were flawless as he kicked both Navan’s scores. In the scrum, Navan enjoyed some good spells, putting constant pressure on the hosts pack and often winning ball against the head. Navan looked more threatening in open play when Harrington and Davis had the ball in hand, but the wingers were isolated and saw very little possession except in a defensive capacity. Navan did a lot of the simple things right. Ciaran Joyce and Coll were an excellent half-back combination and both were very reliable, but it was in combining all the attributes that Navan struggled. Just when they appeared to be getting their forward game together the backs would let them down with careless tactics at rucks and mauls and then when the backs were enjoying a good running game their handling would let them down. At times Navan did threaten to knit everything together perfectly, but they often fell short the closer they got to the Barnhall line and they rarely looked like seriously breaking the hosts try line. After Nolan’s try, Hughes kicked the conversion and two penalties wide which enabled Navan stay in contention. The winger did eventually make it 8-0 for the hosts with a close range penalty after 25 minutes, but then Navan took over. Harrington’s missed opportunity was followed by a sustained bout of Navan pressure close to the Barnhall line that eventually ended with the hosts winning a relieving penalty. Coll closed the deficit with a well-struck penalty four minutes before the break and that left Navan just 3-8 behind at the interval as Hughes squandered a third penalty for Barnhall. The introduction of the returning Bernard Smyth to the Navan pack for the second-half gave the visitors a boost and they continued to lay siege to the Barnhall line. A second Coll penalty from almost 40 metres punished Barnhall for straying offside and with 37 minutes still remaining Navan were confident as they trailed by just 6-8. However, Barnhall stood strong. Navan were denied a chance to take the lead when an indiscretion by Smyth forced the referee to reverse his penalty decision and soon after Keating wasted a chance. Barnhall played 20 of the final 24 minutes with 14 men after both Peter Courtney and Gareth Murray were sin-binned separately, but Navan couldn’t take advantage as their best chance of a try saw Mo McCauley lose the ball forward under pressure. Keating was sin-binned for deliberately knocking on in a ruck and from the resultant penalty Barnhall sealed the win when Hughes tapped over the penalty. Navan looked as if they wouldn’t even get the bonus point when Joyce was sin-binned in injury-time, but Eoin Hogan kicked the subsequent penalty to touch to ensure the ball went dead and Navan were allowed hold on for their first point, albeit a losing bonus one. Barnhall - R McGrath, E Daly, D Stewart, M Small, A Hughes, E Hogan, R Holt; P Courtney, P Beatty, J Nolan, R McKean, E McCreary, N Beirne, B Hennebry, B Dunne. Subs - T McKeown for Small, C Feeney for Beirne, M Kenny for Hennebry, G Murray for McKean, Navan - S Hogan, K Beckham, J Davis, M Harrington, M McCauley, M Coll, C Joyce; D McDonagh, D Harlin, E Hanratty, P Feeney, J Duffy, T Clarke, L Jackson. Subs - B Smyth for Clarke, A Keating for McDonagh, J McAughey for Harlin, McDonagh for Hanratty. Referee - S Reid.