Navan pipped at the post

The grey skies that covered Balreask Old on Saturday afternoon perfectly reflected the mood among the Navan players after this AIL Div 3 encounter. This was a bitter setback for the home team who looked to have a precious and much-needed victory in the bag until the dying seconds when the Ulster side rumbled over for a match-winning try. The crestfallen appearance of the Navan players afterwards told a tale. They had defended heroically in the closing minutes and looked to have withstood the siege only for their opponents to find a small chink in the wall. It was all they needed to make hay. Among the consolations Navan will take from this latest setback is that they competed well with a team who are a hardened bunch at this level and had won three of their four games before this contest. There was also the cushion of a bonus point for losing by less than seven and the fact that Navan made the brighter start and led 6-0 midway through the opening half. Overall, poor enough consolations from a game they could have won. Playing with the breeze in the first-half Navan were happy to spread possession around despite the slippery ball. A combination of some neat passing and good ball retention helped to ensure that they were able to apply sustained pressure. The Ulster side infringed a number of times and Navan out-half Ryan Roberts was only too happy to convert three penalties as Navan led 9-7 at the interval. One of those he slotted over from the Instonians 10-metre line with the New Zealander arrowing the ball straight and true right between the posts. The other two penalties were closer to the posts. The one try of the first-half came on 24 minutes when Instonians made one of their relatively rare forays forward. They moved the ball through the phases and were awarded a scrum a few metres from the Navan tryline. Referee Trevor Collins had apparently warned the home side about infringing in the scrum. When they did it again he gave a penalty-try which was converted by the Instonians out-half Rory McCann. Navan certainly had their difficulties in the scrum throughout the afternoon an area where they have normally excelled this season. They competed well at the breakdown although it was from a turnover in the middle of the field that Instonians engineered their opening try. The visitors almost profited from another breakthrough and only some good recovery work by Kieran Mattson prevented a try, but overall Navan were the more adventurous side. Another highlight of the opening 40 minutes was a run by prop Eddie Dunne who found himself out on the wing at one stage and he made considerable ground before he was bundled into touch. It was the kind of incident that can raise the morale of a team and the run provoked a big cheer from the crowd. The first-half penalty count was 9-5 in favour of Navan which didn't adequately reflect the balance of play. Navan had plenty of possession, they just couldn't turn it into scores. The second-half was different in that Instonians were on the front foot. They moved the ball effectively through the phases before spreading it out wide. It ensured the home defence had to be on full alert to prevent scores. Thomas Clarke, Leigh Jackson and Paul Feeney were among those to get through some very good work around the fringes and help ease the pressure. On occasions Roberts and Karl Manning managed some relieving clearances from behind the scrum. These must have been warmly welcomed by the forwards who were at least given a precious chance to take a breather. Instonians were rewarded for their hard work when McCann slotted over from two relatively easy penalties, the second arriving on 69 minutes to put them 13-9 in front and looking good. Completely against the run of play Navan dug out the try that looked to have earned victory. The origins of the move could be found at midfield where Conor Brady won possession when he latched onto a loose ball. Navan went wide and some quick hands created an opening for Simon Hogan to go over in the right corner. The difficult conversion was missed by Roberts. Still, that looked to be enough to eke out a victory if Navan could hold back the marauding Ulstermen in the final, tense minutes. Eoin Hanratty won the ball on the ground to relieve the pressure at one stage and Harris did well to block a close range drop-goal attempt by McCann. It looked to be enough to ensure a sweet victory. Then the sky fell in on the home side as Instonians went for a rolling maul off their own line-out close to the Navan tryline. Most of the Instonians players gave a helping hand in the maul. The pressure told and they rumbled over. The touchdown was attributed to their prop Gerry Mitchell and the Ulstermen celebrated the score as if they had won the league. Navan - K Manning, D Geraghty, S Hogan, J Davis, M Harrington, R Roberts, K Mattson; E Dunne, C Brady, E King, B Harris, J Duffy, P Feeney, T Clarke, L Jackson. Sub - E Hanratty for Dunne. Instonians - J Devitt, C Morgan, J Scott, S Mallon, R Fegan, R McCann, M Sargant; A Whitten, S Douglas, G Mitchell, K Morton, J McCullough, P Marks, D Bradford, B McDonnell. Referee - Trevor Collins (Munster Branch).