Sensational stuff at Rainey: Co.Meath standard bearers Navan must have been confident of repeating last season’s success at Hatrick Park when they took an early lead against Rainey Old Boys at Dublin Road,but they were forced to take a back seat as Rainey grew in confidence to run in five second-half tries and pick up a bonus point from a 44-13 victory.
Impressive young second-row Michael Shiels put daylight between the teams with two tries just after the break and they went on to gain a stranglehold with the pack in top form and Peter Sciascia running the show from the scrum-half berth.With David Dawson,James Mc Bride,Paul Hawkins and Paul Suiter returning to boost the squad,things are now looking much brighter for Rainey.
Both sides quickly adapted to conditions at Balreask Old where the partially snow covered pitch passed an early mornng inspection.This was Rainey’s first visit to Navan’s magnificent complex and they must have been wondering what lay in store for them when they fell 5-0 behind with barely three minutes on the clock.From a lineout Navan used their big No.8 to gallop through a large gap in the centre and place centre Mc Cauley for a try.From the restart,Sciascia probed the narrow side and scrummage pressure led to a penalty which O’Connor kicked to settle Rainey nerves.After 12 minutes he struck again when a rolling maul took play up to the home 22′.He missed another chance when Navan were penalised for not releasing before they had a lucky let-off.Wing Campbell got across when Rainey’s defence was again left floundering,but they conceded a penalty in front of the posts.Navan opted to run it,but knocked-on with Rainey struggling to get numbers out wide.A great tackle by Paul then saved Rainey whose front row dominance helped them to camp in the Navan half.Both Sciascia and Mc Crea made ground and some good handling forced Navan into conceding a penalty which O’C onnor sent narrowly wide.The Rainey forwards were really motoring by this stage and prop O’Kane took a 22′ drop-out on the burst to find flanker Heaney on his shoulder.A forward pass decision ended this move,but after 32 minutes Mc Crea recycled the ball when Navan appeared to have stopped an attack and they worked the short side to send Campbell in at the corner.Navan replied with a penalty to keep in touch at 11-8 and with the last kick of the half O’Connor pulled a drop at goal just wide.
Shiels soared to take the restart and romp through the Navan pack to set up a handy attacking position and scrum pressure brought them a try through No.8 Mc Crea.O’Connor converted from a wide angle.A Sciascia masterclass behind a rampant pack kept Navan in their own half and a well-worked lineout move and some quick hands brought Shiels a well-deserved try which O’Connor improved from a wide angle.Oozing confidence,Rainey emptied their bench without losing control and Shiels raced in from the 22′ for another fine score.Shiels then put in a superb tackle,but picked up a head injury in the process and was unable to continue.A sublime exhibition of handling by Sciascia from a lineout led to Campbell coming into the line to score beneath the posts and a deft touch with the boot and a hack on by Devlin resulted in a penalty try.In the dying seconds,a neat chip and catch opened up the Rainey defence for back-row man Jackson to creep over as he was tackled just short.
TEAM : M.O’Connor,A.Campbell,R.Paul,S.Derby,R.Devlin,G.Martin,P.Sciascia,N.Amos,S.Sufferin,N.O’Kane,P.Boyle,M.Shiels,P.Heaney.R.Mc Crea,S.Hawe.
REPLACEMENTS : all used – C.Heaney,R.Hall,C.Brennan,P.Stewart,N.Sanderson.
Other Division 3 results : Banbridge 35-30 Sunday’s Well City of Derry 25-22 Barnhall Connemara 11-45 Suttonians Greystones 39-5 Wanderers Highfield 13-18 Instonians Naas P – P Nenagh Ormond Seapoint P – P Ards
DIVISION 3 – fixtures for Dec.4 : ARDS V RAINEY O.B. GREYSTONES V SUTTONIANS HIGHFIELD V BARNHALL INSTONIANS V SUNDAY’S WELL NAAS V CONNEMARA NAVAN V BANBRIDGE NENAGH ORMOND V WANDERERS SEAPOINT V CITY OF DERRY
CONFERENCE 3 A – result Rainey O.B.11 39 – 0 Antrim
