Tough assignment in store for Navan against Boyne

Meath v Louth. From the time the All-Ireland League fixture programme was announced one of the games that stood out for many fans in the north east was the meeting of Navan and Boyne. They take on each other at Boyne RFC's home ground, Shamrock Lodge, on Saturday and for once the Div 2B points on offer are co-incidental. What's really up for grabs here is the local bragging rights with the backdrop of a team from Meath taking on their rivals from the Wee County and all the rivalry that involves. One of the most interesting aspects of this encounter will be the match-up between the two chief place-kickers with Navan's South African import Riann Van Der Vyver (pictured) likely to be involved in a shoot-out with Niall Kerbey, the former Navan player who, with his eye for the posts, has done so much to lift Boyne from junior to senior status. With Kerbey around, Navan will have to be careful not to give away any penalties. They will know how dangerous he can be when he is on good kicking form. Boyne were, no doubt, greatly motivated to obtain a place in senior rugby by the fact that Navan had already made the move up to the AIL ranks. The Drogheda side emerged from Leinster at the end of last season and while one of their aims will be to consolidate their place at a higher level they would love to do that by lowering the colours of their old rivals. When these sides met in the Leinster League or Provincial Towns' Cup games in recent times it was usually Navan who emerged as victors. Times have changed and some measure of Boyne's progress in recent years can be gauged by the fact that they are now five places above their rivals from the Royal County in the AIL Div 2B table. While Navan have only picked up one victory from three games, (a 27-12 win over Sligo) Boyne have won two against Sligo (21-20) and Connemara (27-22) with a bonus point bagged along the way. That makes for an impressive start by Boyne who have as their coach, Craig McGrath, a New Zealander who has shown to have something of a Midas touch in his four years in charge at Shamrock Lodge. In that time Boyne have won the Provnicial Towns' Cup twice and the Leinster League Div 1 making it a golden era for the club where Shane Horgan started his career. McGrath played for Treviso in Italy and his arrival at Boyne has proved to be a huge fillip for the club. He's said to be a clever tactician and well liked by the players. Now 36 he still plays at scrum-half while Eoin Collins, his assistant, turns out at number eight. According to sources the Boyne backs pose a particularly dangerous threat once they get moving and McGrath, Kerbey and others will be looking to use the pace of their three-quarters to try and exploit any openings in the Navan defence. What Navan team will show up at Shamrock Lodge on Saturday remains to be seen. In their last outing against Naas, Navan put in a strong first-half display. Their scrum was solid, they fed off quick ball from the rucks, mauls and set-pieces, their backs looked threatening with ball in hand. Then in the second-half that all changed. Naas disrupted the home line-out and scrum, executed a few morale-boosting turnovers, gradually stole the initiative and powered on to win 13-7. Injuries during the course of the game didn't help the Navan cause and their supporters will be hoping that this was the reason for the defeat rather than other, more fundamental problems. Coach Leon Jordaan will be looking on Saturday for a much more focused performance from his troops than he got in the second-half of that Naas game. He will need it if a win is to be contemplated in Drogheda. Boyne have already shown themselves well able for senior rugby and with home advantage they may have too much in store for their visitors from Meath. Whatever the outcome a good old, traditioanl north-east derby is promised.