Balreask old boys seeking some festive cheer from big tullamore test

If the players from the senior Navan rugby team were asked what would they want at Christmas, they would surely say a victory against Tullamore on Friday evening, 7.30
The Balreask Old boys travel to the Offaly venue for the All-Ireland League Div 2B encounter looking for a big improvement in form - and a win that would get their campaign back on track.
They will also be looking to bolster team morale following the disappointing 12-17 defeat to Richmond at home in their last outing.
That was a game when little went right for the Navan side and the visitors from Limerick were given the opportunities to get the scores they needed to bag their first win of the campaign.
Logic would indicate that if Navan struggled against the bottom team in the table they will find it a near insurmountable task to overcome a Tullamore outfit who are flying high in the table.
The Offaly side go into the game on the back of a 24-13 victory away to Boyne, the kind of result that has carried them to second in the table.
Alan Kingsley’s side are tenth and his team have have their difficulties away from home this season as seen in their defeat to Armagh (15-20) in September.
However, they’ve also had their triumphs on the road since against Ards (11-3) and De La Salle Palmerstown (17-12) and those kind of results are, at least, a source of encouragement.
Confidence must be low among the Navan players as they have lost out to Sunday’s Well (0-15) and Richmond in recent home games. They produced some enterprising, fast-flowing rugby against Richmond working their way through for two tries from John Sheridan and David Clarke.
However, their cause was undermined by a series of unforced errors. Time and again promising attacking moves came to nothing because of a knock-on or good foraging by Richmond at the breakdown.
When they needed to most Navan were unable to raise their game and that’s one of the big challenges facing them as they go into Friday night’s encounter. Everything points to a Tullamore victory.