Crucial first victory achieved at Balreask Old

There are hardly enough superlatives to describe the thrilling action at Balreask Old on Saturday as Navan secured their first win of the All-Ireland League Div 3 with a stunning victory over Connemara All-Blacks. The addendum to the Connemara club’s name suitably reflected their style of play in the opening half as they dominated Navan and looked set for a comfortable victory when leading by 21-9 at the break. However, after the resumption Navan assumed control. With a numerical advantage for the opening 10 minutes of the second-half after Alan Keogh was sent to the sin-bin on the stroke of half-time they clawed their way back into contention. However, it wasn’t until seven minutes from the end when John Davis blocked down a clearance that the hosts managed to get their noses in front and then victory was assured with a third try in injury-time. It really was thrill-a-minute stuff and it is unlikely that Balreask Old has witnessed such a compelling encounter before. The game had everything. There was a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Connemara scored a magnificent try to move 8-3 ahead after 16 minutes - much of Navan’s play was so disjointed and erratic that they accounted for the bad cliché. The ugly came in the form of Alan Keogh’s horrific high tackle on Mo McCauley that should have warranted a red card. The referee showed some leniency and he was allowed continue after 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Had Alan Keogh received what would have been a justified red card, Navan’s victory could have been much more comfortable. When the visitors were short their full-back they looked a pale shadow of their flowing best, but when he returned Navan were forced onto the back foot again. After successive defeats by Wanderers, Sunday’s Well and Barnhall, Navan were in desperate need of a win and many expected this one to be the platform for a return to form, but for long periods of the opening half the Meath men seemed intent on handing victory to the visitors. Navan were atrocious in the opening 40 minutes. There were countless knock-ons and errors in the scrum and line-outs as well as poor decision-making, missed tackles and sloppy play at the breakdown. Connemara took full advantage and broke from rucks, mauls and scrums without a hand being laid on them and it was no surprise when they were ahead by 12 points at the break. It wasn’t until Navan regrouped at the break and faced up to the realisation that they were staring down the barrel of a fourth defeat against a side who were supposed to be the whipping boys. With the fear of losing in their bellies and the advantage of the extra man, Navan improved beyond recognition after the resumption. There was a drive, style, passion and cohesion about their play that was absent in the opening half. Inspired by the youthful exuberance of Andrew Keating at prop and the excellence of captain John Duffy in the second row, Navan started to dominate at the scrum. With a steady platform provided by the improving pack, the Navan backs also found a new footing with Martin Coll excelling at out-half and John Davis also impressing at centre. A Navan victory looked unlikely throughout the first-half. It took Connemara eight minutes to take a lead and they never trailed until seven minutes from time. Sean Joyce gave them the early advantage from a penalty after Navan crossed over in front of Ciaran Joyce. Coll levelled matters three minutes later when Connemara were penalised for offside, but that was as good as it got for Navan. A crooked throw into the line-out by Daire Harlin gave Connemara a platform from a scrum and they took full advantage to score a magnificent end-to-end try with the outstanding David Keogh, Alan Keogh and Sean Joyce involved before Mark Joyce touched down. The try-scorer missed the easy conversion attempt, but three minutes later he made amends from a penalty to make it 11-3. Coll produced a superb kick to penalise Connemara for preventing the ball coming back in a ruck. Mark Joyce gave Connemara their 21-9 interval advantage with a scoring burst of a penalty and a converted try after he intercepted Coll’s wayward pass. Coll closed Navan’s first-half account following Alan Keogh’s indiscretion, but there appeared no way back at that stage. However, what transpired after the resumption was magnificent. After Coll missed a difficult penalty attempt Navan were rewarded when Ciaran Joyce’s quick thinking from a penalty put Bernard Smyth clear and the flanker touched down under the posts. Coll converted to reduce the gap to 16-21. Another penalty from Coll for not binding in a scrum closed the gap further, but when Sean Joyce brought his tally to 21 points from another penalty Connemara appeared back on track with a 24-19 lead. However, the visitors failed to score again. A brilliant block down and race clear by Davis was followed by Coll’s conversion as Navan took the lead for the first time 26-24. Then with time almost up the outstanding Leigh Jackson gathered a wayward Connemara line-out and drove over for the insurance try. Coll missed the conversion to ensure the Westerners left with a bonus point, but it was Navan’s day as they secured their first win. Navan - S Hogan, D Geraghty, J Davis, M Harrington, M McCauley, M Coll, C Joyce; E Hanratty, D Harlin, A Keating, J Duffy, P Feeney, T Boyle, B Smyth, L Jackson. Subs - R Gleeson for Hanratty, J McAughey for Harlin, T Clarke for Feeney. Connemara - A Keogh, D McDonagh, M Joyce, J Vaughan, D Little, S Joyce, D Keogh; J Robinson, K Barry, E Ferron, D Sweeney, A Pryce, E Conroy, M O’Malley, M Coyne. Subs - I McDonagh for Sweeney, C Reilly for O’Malley, P Madden for Little, K Ward for Conroy. Referee - T Smith.