Navan reign all over Old Boys
by Jimmy Geoghegan Updated: Wednesday, 20th January, 2010 4:58pm
Rainey Old Boys 0, Navan 16
Navan hooker James McCaghy produced a good performance on Saturday.
There was a neat symmetry about Navan's achievement in bagging their third victory in the AIL Div 3 at Hatrick Park on Saturday.
The Balreask Old side travelled to the home of Rainey Old Boys in Magherafelt badly in need of a victory.
They needed to stem the tide of recent defeats and take a step away from the lower regions of the division.
They did all that with arguably their best display of the season so far with out-half Ryan Roberts contributing 11 points and John Davis powering over for the only try of the game. At the break Navan led 13-0 and it was clear that it would have taken a complete collapse at the wicket to allow the Ulster side back into the race.
Not only did Navan win, they did so in some style producing a combination of high-tempo, fast-paced, disciplined and skilful rugby that simply overwhelmed their opponents.
The Meath side also spurned other excellent chances to add to their tally. Mark Harrington knocked-on when through in the opening half. The same player also broke through late in the game and off-loaded to Davis who had a clear run to the try-line only for the referee to penalise a forward pass.
It may appear somewhat ironic to include discipline among Navan's qualities on Saturday considering that they had two players - Harrington and David King - sin-binned.
That stark statistic doesn't tell the whole story. Both men were sent to temporary exile on the sideline late in the game for relatively minor infringements.
It should also be considered that the penalty count in the first-half stood at 4-2 in favour of the visitors.
That indicated not only how Navan dominated proceedings in the opening 40 minutes, it also showed how disciplined they were. The second-half count stood at 5-5.
It wasn't unusual to hear the roar of "no penalties" from members of the Navan management including coach Brad Harris who was anxious not to hand the home side any easy scores. Harris could also be heard calling to his troops early on: "Let's get to the breakdown quicker."
They certainly heeded his call as Navan's ability to compete at the breakdown was one of the reasons why they achieved their welcome victory.
They also excelled in the scrum putting their opponents under pressure in this department from the start. It was the platform for ultimate success as Rainey Old Boys frequently found themselves on the backfoot.
There were other aspects of Navan's display that augurs well for the rest of the season. They played with a sharpness in hand, feet and mind that was a step above what they have produced for much of this season.
They did have their problems with the line-out malfunctioning a few times and possession needlessly conceded. Rainey Old Boys simply didn't have the invention to take full advantage.
The old saying that "a good start is half the battle" was certainly relevant as Navan used any advantage they enjoyed by having a slight breeze behind them to race into an early lead.
Roberts got the scorekeeper working when he confidently drilled over from a 20-metre penalty after just six minutes.
Navan mixed their play often enough to ensure the Rainey Old Boys were never sure what rabbit they were going to pull out of the hat next.
Sometimes they hit the ball in behind the defence. On other occasions they swung it out wide.
The inter-change of play created openings and Navan's try came after just nine minutes.
From an attacking line-out the ball was swept in-field. Davis ran at full steam onto a pass about 15 metres out and brushed aside a challenge to slip through an opening in the opposition defence for the touchdown. Roberts had no trouble in converting.
The Kiwi went on to tag on another penalty soon after to give his team their commanding interval advantage.
Rainey Old Boys enjoyed territorial dominance in the second-half, but they came up against a Navan defence that was resolute and strong. Everybody involved put in the big hits to ensure there was no route to the try-line.
The nearest Rainey Old Boys came to scoring was when Andrew Campbell pulled a long-range penatly attempt just wide after the break.
The home side did themselves no favours with some poor handling, knocking-on a few times when in good positions. However, the Navan tackling was consistent and resolute.
Roberts had a fine outing with a 100 per cent kicking rate mixed with some superb clearances from the red zone.
Davis made a series of surging runs through the middle. The forwards, especially Eoin Hanratty and John Duffy excelled.
Hanratty added plenty of power up front while Duffy, who recently became a father, won possession well from line-outs and also helped to execute at least one first-rate steal.
The back-row of Paul Feeney, Thomas Clarke and Leigh Jackson worked hard to shore up any openings around the fringes. Jackson was also prominent going forward.
Then there was Karl Manning. He conjured up a series of scintillating, jinking runs through the middle, somehow evading the clutches of bewildered opponents who must have felt like they were trying to catch an eel.
Manning also cleared his lines well. His was the type of performance that typified what was an excellent day for Navan. Now the Balreask Old side and the hardly band of loyal supporters will feel a lot more comfortable about securing their AIL status this season.
Rainey Old Boys - R Devlin, A Campbell, T Dudonski, N Suiter, J McBride, G Martin, R Paul; N Amos, S Sufferin, N O'Kane, P Stewart, P Boyle, G Eastwood, D Dawson, R McCrea. Sub - S McDowell for Sufferin.
Navan - K Manning, D Geraghty, S Hogan, J Davis, M Harrington, R Roberts, D Delahunt; E King, J McCaghy, E Hanratty, B Harris, J Duffy, P Feeney, T Clarke, L Jackson. Subs - D King for E King, D Crinion for Harris, K Mattson for Delahunt, A Hickey for Geraghty, C Brady for McCaghy, E King for Hanratty.
Referee - B Montayne.
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