Cashel spoil Navan head coach Ray Moloney's farewell
RUGBY
With both sides safe from relegation and out of the running for promotion this AIL Div 2A encounter had the sense of a dead rubber about it but it was highly significant in other ways as it represented Ray Moloney's last game as Navan head coach.
It would have been nice for Navan to finish off their league campaign - and to mark the very significant occasion for Moloney and the squad - with a victory but it didn't turn out like that. During his term as head coach Moloney guided Navan to Div 1B, their highest ever placing, but they came back to Div 2A at the end of last season.
On Saturday the visitors from Meath scored first with Sean McEntagart breaking from midfield to tap down for a try behind the posts. Rory Gordon converted to give Moloney's men the perfect start but Cashel came surging back to lead 17-7 at the interval.
Early in the second-half Cashel were awarded a penalty try to go further in front. Navan didn't give up with Jordan Finney going over for a converted try on 51 minutes. Shortly before the end Cashel scored their fifth try from a rolling maul. However, the visitors had the last word when on the stroke of full-time when a fine, cutting-edge moved ended with Paddy Fox touching down under the posts with Gordon again converting.
Navan - Rory Gordon, Paddy Fox, Sean McEntagart, Leandro Ramirez, Evan Dixon, Ben Stephens, Hardus Van Eeden; Ryan Healy, Jack Nelson, Leigh Jackson, Eoghan Noonan, Jordan Finney, Leon Aktopian, Liam McAree, Hardus Van Eeden. Subs - Eoin O'Reilly, Harry Conlon, Ciaran O'Reilly, Harry Hester, Mark Farrell.
* Navan defeated Carlingford 27-21 in the North-East Leinster Area u-16 League on Saturday. Ella O'Higgins, Katie Kearney, Aoife White, Molly Murphy and Anna Sherlock scored tries for Navan with a conversion from Aoife White who was player of the match.
* In the u-14 Leinster League Div 2 fifth place play-off Navan defeated The Sharks 54-32 in Terenure on Saturday. Grace McWeeney scored four tries while Emma O'Rourke, Eva Farrell, Amelia Gillespie, Caoimhe Martin and Clarissa Vlad also scored touch downs. The team was captained by Tessa Flynn.