By Daire Walsh

The Culliton U17 Cup will reside at Balreask for the next 12 months, after a blistering start to the second half provided the platform for Navan’s success against Gorey in the headline Bank Holiday game at Donnybrook.

The county Meath men had motivation on their side heading into this tie, as they had been narrowly defeated (12-11) in an April 27th Leinster Premier League final against Skerries at Templeville Road. A try from centre Conor Nash, alongside a brace of penalties by captain Christian Byrne, had placed Navan in pole position during the closing moments of this game, but a late five-pointer from the north Dubliners cruelly denied Colm Farrell’s outfit in the end.

Though the final scoreline would suggest that both teams deployed an open brand of rugby from the early moments of the action, the first half was actually quite cagey for the most part, with neither side willing to leave themselves exposed in defence. A number of kicks from distance did place Navan under pressure in the opening stages, but despite displaying some signs of nerves, they eventually settled into a more familiar stride.

Indeed, they were presented with the first meaningful opportunity of the game with ten minutes gone on the clock, when the influential Byrne stepped forward to negotiate a 22-metre penalty. This place-kick was at an awkward angle for a right-footed kicker, and even though he was able to find the distance, he couldn’t steer his kick between the posts.

This was something of a let-off for Gorey, who were being forced on to the back-foot following an initial bright start to the play. Nevertheless, they always looked dangerous with the ball in hand and lock Adam Masterson almost crashed over 16 minutes in.

The Navan defence managed to hold up the towering number five and diligence was also required in thwarting Achille Kinsella’s 18th minute drive for the line. Gorey continued to push for a breakthrough try and it took a strong surge from his own posts by the impressive Byrne to finally weather this considerable Gorey storm.

As the minutes passed by, clear-cut try-scoring chances were coming at a premium, and aside from an eye-catching sprint on the left by winger Sam Kennedy after 29 minutes, it didn’t look like the deadlock would be broken before the break.

However, Navan had other ideas, and from an enterprising move across the Gorey line in the opening minute of injury-time, right-wing Keelan McKeever was in the right place to break over in the corner.

Byrne was desperately unlucky to see his conversion come crashing off the woodwork, but scoring so close to the interval was a major psychological boost to the Navan cause. A 5-0 lead was certainly not insurmountable from Gorey’s point of view, but there was a definite sense that their opponents were only starting to find their feet.

Cian Twomey’s lengthy journey up the left-hand touchline two minutes after the restart served notice for what was to come, and a second try arrived for Navan from the elusive Walshe at the end of a mazy run on 41 minutes.

Byrne had no issues with his second conversion attempt of the day, but it was Walshe who briefly assumed kicking duties in the aftermath of Charlie McGarry’s 44th minute five-pointer. McGarry broke forward unopposed for his converted score, and with 19 points now separating the two teams, a Navan victory appeared inevitable.

Excellent approach play from Conor Nash and Twomey set the foundations for Walshe’s second try (and Navan’s third in five minutes) from the following attack, and despite once again shaking the upright from a tight angle, Byrne looked set to be the recipient of the coveted silverware come the end of the outing.

Gorey simply refused to throw in the towel though, and at the very beginning of the closing quarter, substitute Hadden made a much-needed impact via a seven-point salvo. The Wexford club had probed effectively inside the Navan ’22’ prior to this score, and with their confidence levels improving, they were primed for a major onslaught late on.

It didn’t quite materialise to the degree expected for large parts of the closing stages, and despite living off limited possession, Navan dealt comfortably with the vast majority of Gorey attacks. Yet, in Boyle they had an exceptional performer and when he touched down past the opposing line for an unconverted try just two minutes from the end of normal time, the Gorey challenge was galvanised.

The clock was running against the Slaneysiders at this stage, but much like their U13s in the day’s curtain-raiser, they were prepared to see their task through to the bitter end. A final big push towards the Navan posts did lead to a third try, this time from Bellanova following a maul on the left-hand side and with Hadden bringing his personal haul up to nine points, there was now just an unconverted try to separate the teams.

Unfortunately, this was as close as Gorey came to forcing their way back into the reckoning, and in spite of their very best endeavours, it was Navan who were the eventual victors in an engrossing finale.

NAVAN SCORERS: S. Walshe (two tries, one conversion), K. McKeever (try), C. McGarry (try), C. Byrne (one conversion).

GOREY SCORERS: C. Hadden (try, two conversions), P. Boyle (try), D. Bellanova (try).

NAVAN: Shane Walshe; Keelan McKeever, Conor Nash, Ben McEntagart, Cian Twomey; Christian Byrne CAPTAIN, Niall McGrane; David Fox, Oisin Lavin-Kelly, Alex McGoey; Charlie McGarry, JJ O’Dea; Daragh Hoare, Connor Farrell, Conor Hand.

Replacements: Ian Richead, Kevin Lynch, Finn Searle, Graham Brennan, Brian Conlon, Jake Love.

GOREY: Jack Willoughby; John Roach, Lucas Stafford, Daniel Sawyer, Sam Kennedy; Conor Butler, Arran Davies; Darragh Bellanova, Achille Kinsella, Daniel Keogh; Ross Doyle, Adam Masterson; Stanley Hadden, Jack O’Hagan, Paul Boyle CAPTAIN.

Replacements: Mark Hoare, Cian Hadden, Conor Mangan, Michael Wafer, Luke Willoughby, David Bailey, Barry Doyle, Lee McCabe.