Navan senior men travelled to County Tipperary for Round Six of their Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A campaign on Saturday, the team went hoping to turn around their run of results that had seen four defeats and one drawn game. The challenge ahead of them was very daunting as e one placed Cashel were in the playoff spots of the Division and seeking to remain there after going undefeated so far in this campaign.
Navan started the game brightly with a lot of high pace and taking the ball on in physical carries this led to a reward for them when in the 14th minute, second row Conor Hand got over the try line for the opening score of the game just to the right hand side of the posts with fly half Tom Gavigan adding the extras, kicking over a successful conversion to give the County Meath side a 7-0 lead.
The home side slowly came back into the game as they got to grips with the tempo that Navan had brought to this fixture and started to make inroads into the Navan half of the field, their persistence was rewarded when they were able to get a equalising score with their substitute and front row going over for a try on 24 minutes with a successful conversion kicked over, the match then followed a very evenly contested contest with possession going back and forth between the two teams.
Cashel looked to get more into the game using their forward pack to try and bully Navan backwards and getting looking to get in for a second score to take lead however Navan's resolute defence was more than a match and they successfully kept the Tipperary side out from their lines and were able to force errors at critical moments to clear the ball up field for a respite for their defence.
Coming into the last 10 minutes of the first half Cashel were penalised for an infringement that was in kicking range of their posts with Gavigan slotting the ball over to give Navan a ten points to seven points lead going into the half-time break.
At the beginning of the second half Cashel came out with determination and within one minute they're scrum half broke through in the midfield to find a gap and ran through the Navan defence to score a converted try underneath the posts which gave the home side the lead 14 points to 10.
Thereafter much of the following 20 minutes was a physical battle where both teams were trying to claim possession of the ball and take advantage with the contest still up for grabs between both sides, Cashel's physical carrying was not able to find a way through Navan's determined defence and tackling with both sides making errors to give up possession of the ball to the side which cancelled each others momentum out.
Coming into the last 20 minutes of the contest Navan took sustained possession of the ball and made inroads into the Cashel's 22 metre line area with some very hard carries and good recycling of possession by the Navan forwards to get them to within the five metre line and an opportunity to score to get ahead, however Cashel's ls stout defence did look to keep them out until they were gave away a knock on 5 metres from their try line to Navan, in the resulting set peace the Navan forwards put in a strong effort slowly pushing the scrum towards the Tipperary try-line and forcing the Tipperary front row to infringe with the result being the referee awarding Navan a penalty try and an automatic 7 points to put them three points ahead in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Cashel, determined to find a winning score with the game looked to take the ball on forward and made multiple efforts to push forward toward the Navan half of the field, however some brave resilient defensive tackles by the way team forced casual to make a number of handling errors that took away their momentum in attack Navan battled bravely and were able to steal possession back at crucial times and eventually held out for the final whistle and their first win of the season ending casuals on beaten run.
After a tough first five rounds Navan were delighted to finally post their first win of the season in Division 2A of the energy all Ireland League the players for the match were jointly awarded to forwards Jayden Henderson and Conor Hand, the game also marked a milestone for stalwart Leigh Jackson who led the team out onto the field on the occasion of his 200th Energia All-Ireland League appearances.
Navan will look to continue this momentum when they welcome Ulster side Banbridge to Balreask Old next Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Navan Men's 1st XV Squad "Sponsored by Hannon Travel": Liam Carroll, Jayden Henderson, Leigh Jackson, Jordan Finney, Conor Hand, Kyle Dixon, Ben McEntagart, Tom Ciot, Mark Farrell, Tom Gavigan, Shane Walshe, Evan Dixon (Capt), Mathijs De Wit, Mark Coen, Rory Gordon.
Replacements: Gary Faulkner, James Wyse, Harry Conlon, Jack Dixon, Harry Devlin.
Navan started the game brightly with a lot of high pace and taking the ball on in physical carries this led to a reward for them when in the 14th minute, second row Conor Hand got over the try line for the opening score of the game just to the right hand side of the posts with fly half Tom Gavigan adding the extras, kicking over a successful conversion to give the County Meath side a 7-0 lead.
The home side slowly came back into the game as they got to grips with the tempo that Navan had brought to this fixture and started to make inroads into the Navan half of the field, their persistence was rewarded when they were able to get a equalising score with their substitute and front row going over for a try on 24 minutes with a successful conversion kicked over, the match then followed a very evenly contested contest with possession going back and forth between the two teams.
Cashel looked to get more into the game using their forward pack to try and bully Navan backwards and getting looking to get in for a second score to take lead however Navan's resolute defence was more than a match and they successfully kept the Tipperary side out from their lines and were able to force errors at critical moments to clear the ball up field for a respite for their defence.
Coming into the last 10 minutes of the first half Cashel were penalised for an infringement that was in kicking range of their posts with Gavigan slotting the ball over to give Navan a ten points to seven points lead going into the half-time break.
At the beginning of the second half Cashel came out with determination and within one minute they're scrum half broke through in the midfield to find a gap and ran through the Navan defence to score a converted try underneath the posts which gave the home side the lead 14 points to 10.
Thereafter much of the following 20 minutes was a physical battle where both teams were trying to claim possession of the ball and take advantage with the contest still up for grabs between both sides, Cashel's physical carrying was not able to find a way through Navan's determined defence and tackling with both sides making errors to give up possession of the ball to the side which cancelled each others momentum out.
Coming into the last 20 minutes of the contest Navan took sustained possession of the ball and made inroads into the Cashel's 22 metre line area with some very hard carries and good recycling of possession by the Navan forwards to get them to within the five metre line and an opportunity to score to get ahead, however Cashel's ls stout defence did look to keep them out until they were gave away a knock on 5 metres from their try line to Navan, in the resulting set peace the Navan forwards put in a strong effort slowly pushing the scrum towards the Tipperary try-line and forcing the Tipperary front row to infringe with the result being the referee awarding Navan a penalty try and an automatic 7 points to put them three points ahead in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Cashel, determined to find a winning score with the game looked to take the ball on forward and made multiple efforts to push forward toward the Navan half of the field, however some brave resilient defensive tackles by the way team forced casual to make a number of handling errors that took away their momentum in attack Navan battled bravely and were able to steal possession back at crucial times and eventually held out for the final whistle and their first win of the season ending casuals on beaten run.
After a tough first five rounds Navan were delighted to finally post their first win of the season in Division 2A of the energy all Ireland League the players for the match were jointly awarded to forwards Jayden Henderson and Conor Hand, the game also marked a milestone for stalwart Leigh Jackson who led the team out onto the field on the occasion of his 200th Energia All-Ireland League appearances.
Navan will look to continue this momentum when they welcome Ulster side Banbridge to Balreask Old next Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Navan Men's 1st XV Squad "Sponsored by Hannon Travel": Liam Carroll, Jayden Henderson, Leigh Jackson, Jordan Finney, Conor Hand, Kyle Dixon, Ben McEntagart, Tom Ciot, Mark Farrell, Tom Gavigan, Shane Walshe, Evan Dixon (Capt), Mathijs De Wit, Mark Coen, Rory Gordon.
Replacements: Gary Faulkner, James Wyse, Harry Conlon, Jack Dixon, Harry Devlin.
