Late recovery fails to save Navan from defeat

Early on in this AIL Div 2B game at Sutton on Saturday it looked like Navan were heading for a right old royal tanking. By the end of the 80 minutes it was the home side who were happiest to hear the final shrill blast of the referee's whistle. After making a start that could be charitably described as pedestrian Navan found some decent form to go very close to snatching what would have been a truly dramatic victory. Suttonians' home pitch has held little joy for Navan in the past. Two years ago, in their first season in the senior grade Brad Harris brought his side to Station Road and they shipped a heavy defeat - and a harsh lession on the realities of life at AIL level. When 11 minutes of Saturday's game had been played and Navan trailed 0-11 it looked like it was going to be a similiar scenario. The home side were dominant, the visitors, who missed many tackles, were unable to get their hands on the ball. Gradually, inch-by-inch, Navan gained a foothold and by half-time, despite having to defend for much of that opening 40 minutes, they trailed by only four points (6-10). They made a slow start to the second-half and conceded a try scored by Peter Zarifi and converted by out-half Alex O'Driscoll. The same player added a penalty before Navan responded with tries from Leigh Jackson and David Geraghty to leave just four points between the sides with 51 minutes played. Suttonians engineered another try from skilful scrum-half Adam Griggs to push further ahead. Soon after that score Dave Sheridan tagged on a late penalty to set up a grandstand finish with Suttonians just about managing to hold back the Navan hordes. It all meant that Navan at least ended up with a bonus point although that was scant consolation for the visitors. They looked on this defeat as a missed chance to add to the derby day victory over Boyne the previous week. "It was nearly there for us. It's a hard pill to swallow at the end of the day," commented stand-in captain Jackson. "Everyone was on a high all week, we let ourselves down, we let the club down it was very disappointing to come off such a great win last week and then follow it up with a display like that. We let them run at us for the first 20 minutes and that cost us the game." The game was held up for a 20-minute spell midway through the second-half when the Suttonians out-half O'Driscoll was injured. He sustained what looked like a neck injury. An ambulance was called and drove onto the pitch where they player lay without initially moving. There were sighs of relief all around, including his mother who was among the spectators, when he eventually started to tentatively move his legs. It would be natural for the Navan players to look back on this game and think of what might have been. Apart from the slow start there were the two conversions and a penalty missed by Riaan van der Vyver - his penalty attempt rebounding off the woodwork. The South African did well to fire over his two opening-half penalties, particularly the first from just inside the Suttonians half. He found it difficult to find the range after that, particularly with efforts from the right, with Sheridan eventually taking over the kicking duties. Navan may also reflect on how they failed to take full advantage from a spell of sustained pressure late in the afternoon after the impressive David King did well to surge over the tryline from a few metres out. He had a couple of home players hanging out of him and the referee deemed that they did enough to prevent the Navan prop from touching the ball down. The decision was a five-metre scrum and eventually Suttonians cleared their lines. King and Duffy stood out in a good display from the pack. Using the dry conditions Navan were eager all afternoon to throw the ball about and it was a strategy that nearly paid off. They used the ball particularly well in the second-half, moving it through the phases only to be denied by a knock-on or a turnover. They secured ball from their line-outs and were quick to the breakdown. The Navan pack were the architects of their team's first try. After exerting a spell of sustained pressure Navan won a scrum close to the Suttonians try-line. They got a push on and Jackson picked the ball from the base and powered over. It was a fine score, a just reward for the efforts of the forwards. Soon after Geraghty was almost through before Navan got their second try. It came out of nothing with Simon Hogan picking up a loose ball in midfield. He tore up the left wing with a posse chasing him, the ball was moved to John Duffy, then to Geraghty who went over near the posts. Mo McAuley almost found a gap as the tension increased in the dying minutes. Hogan embarked on another of his scintillating runs only to cut inside when it looked like he could have made it at the corner. Sheridan's penalty was all Navan could muster. It wasn't enough. The manner in which Navan kept bouncing back in this game, eventually digging out a bonus point, will have encouraged Jordaan ahead of their next outing - a home clash with Cashel. Suttonians - D Farrell, D Higgins, A Dodd, P Zarifi, D Traynor, A O'Driscoll, A Griggs; G Connolly, R Kelly, A Hoary, J Finucane, A Kearney, A Walsh, R Delaney, P Dwane. Sub - S Cantillon for O'Driscoll. Navan - R van der Vyver, S Hogan, D Geraghty, D Sheridan, M McAuley, J Mullins, D Delahunt; E Hanratty, M Liddle, D King, J Duffy, T Boyle, C Brady, S Dawson, L Jackson. Subs - P Feeney for Hanratty, C Sullivan for Dawson, J McGahy for Boyle. Referee - Brian Montayne (Leinster Branch).