Crucial league win for Navan

This was a very significant victory for Navan in the Leinster League Div 1 defeating last season"s champions Cill Dara away from home on Sunday. The Kildare men were still smarting following defeat by Boyne a week before and this was a game they had to win if they were to stay in contention at the top of the table. Navan meanwhile had a 100 per cent record to maintain so the scene was set for a bruising encounter. Navan got going after 18 minutes when Thomas Clarke intercepted a Cill Dara pass outside their 22-metre line, the ball eventually worked its way to centre Ronan Conaty who touched down under the posts. Navan out-half Ryan Roberts converted. For the rest of the half play was concentrated in midfield with Cill Dara putting Navan under a lot of pressure however, the Navan defence stood firm for a 7-0 interval lead. Early in the second-half Cill Dara scored from a pushover try in the left corner. With Paul Feeney getting a second yellow card Navan were reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the half and it looked as if the momentum was with Cill Dara, but Navan were not about to relinquish their lead and in the 66th minute Roberts put Navan further ahead with a penalty kick in front of the posts. Conscious that there was still only one score between the teams, Navan increased the pressure and their superior fitness paid dividends when Conaty went over for his second try, Roberts converted. Navan - E King, C Brady, D King, B Harris, J Duffy, P Feeney, T Clarke; B Smyth, C Matson, R Roberts, S Hogan, S Iro, R Conaty, M Harrington, K Manning. Subs - A Hickey for T Clarke, E Dunne for E King, T Geraghty for K Manning. Ashbourne 11 Clane 3 Hosts Ashbourne defeated Clane in a Leinster League Div 2 encounter on Sunday to maintain their bright start to the season. Neither side rose above the elements, but the home team ground out an important win to move them into third place in the league. Ashbourne started well with full-back Dermot Colreavy claiming possession before embarking on a great run. From this play Ashbourne were awarded a penalty after Clane strayed offside at a ruck. Andy Munn directed the ball between the posts from the penalty. Shortly afterwards Clane struck back with three points from a penalty to leave it 3-3 at the break. The first chance of the second-half fell to Clane but their attempted kick at the posts was wide of the mark. Two minutes later they were reduced to 14 men when their hooker was binned for a late hit on Munn. The Ashbourne out-half took the penalty and put the ball into the corner. From the line out Ashbourne drove forward and were awarded a five-metre scrum. After a number of scrums with Clane holding firm, Hall broke from the base to drive over the line for the game"s only try, which was converted by Munn. The out-half also slotted over a penalty a few minutes later to stretch Ashbourne"s lead. In the closing period Munn worked hard to spark the team with some excellent jinking breaks ably assisted by Ward. Those who impressed for Ashbourne included Colreavy, Eric Greene and Eddie Conaty, man of the match Ollie Ennis who rolled back the years to cover the ground and was first to the breakdown a number of times. Others to impress included Hall, Ciaran Glennon, John Gavin, Munn, Matt Ward and Christy Jordan. Ashbourne were happy with the win and look forward to a week"s break in the league. Ashbourne - D Colreavy, E Greene, M Ward, P Mullen, E Conaty, A Munn, S O"Neill; O Ennis, J McCaghy, C Jordan, J Mahon, I Power, J Gavin, C Glennon, P Hall. Cill Dara 0 Navan 5 There was little between the sides in this Leinster Provinical Seconds League Div 1 encounter at Cill Dara RFC with the visitors just about doing enough to win. The crucial try came with just seven minutes remaining when Navan full-back Mick McAuley received the ball inside the Cill Dara half on the right hand side of the pitch. He defended himself against two tackles before going on to get the touchdown in the corner. Those who impressed in a battling Navan side included McAuley, Dermot McDonald and Peader Flood. Navan - M McAuley, A O"Keeffe, B Comiskey, P Flood, K Joyce, B McCormack, S Bedford, D McDonald, R Ball, S Dawson, P Regan, D Brecknell, C Brazzil, J Baker, D Dixon. Subs - N Finlay for Ball, R Coleman for Bedford. Ashbourne 20 Clane 6 Ashbourne made it four wins in a row when they defeated Clane to maintain their unbeaten record in the Leinster Provincial Seconds League on Sunday. The Meath side fell six points behind before they got on the scoresheet when Dan Cahill went over for a try. This was followed soon after with another touchdown from winger Seth George. Early in the second-half George outpaced the Clane defence to get an excellent touchdown in the corner. Ashbourne picked up the bonus point near the end when Owen Smith set up out-half Broughton to score again the corner. Allan Gallagher played out of position at number eight yet put in a man of the match performance with Stephen Magee and Owen Smith also impressing. Ashbourne - S Laurentiu, M Norton, B O"Neill, G McMahon, C Costello, D Cullen, D Hickey; A Wall, P Barrett, T McIvor, S Dardis, N Boxwell, P Donnelly, D Donnelly, K Quinn.