After narrowly losing to Dublin University in their previous Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B game, Naas took on another side from the capital when hosting Blackrock College in Forenaughts last Saturday afternoon. Despite that defeat to the University side Naas maintained their fourth spot in the league table, but on this occasion they played nowhere near their capabilities and fell to a heavy defeat.

From the very start Naas were playing second fiddle to their opponents and almost fell behind within seconds of the start. They failed to deal with the opening kick-off, the visitors quickly recycled the ball moving it into midfield to Brian Colclough who broke free, but his pass failed to go to hand and the chance was spurned. However it was only a brief reprieve for the home side. After just four minutes a Naas knock-on gave Blackrock a scrum inside the 22. A big surge from their pack led to Naas collapsing the scrum and the visitors elected to tap the resulting penalty. The initial surges at the Naas line were initially well defended by the home defence, but eventually Dave Fortune managed to power his way over for the opening score. Conor O’Shaughnessy kicked the conversion and Blackrock led by seven points to nil.

After just ten minutes this lead doubled. From a scrum just outside the 22 the visitors elected to attack to the right, and a short pop pass by Conor O’Shaughnessy to Matthew Dawn split the Naas defence apart, and led to the latter racing away unopposed to score under the posts. O’Shaughnessy added the conversion.

Peter Osborne did reduce the margin for Naas after 21 minutes when kicking a penalty awarded after the Blackrock backs had strayed offside, but they fell further behind after 38 minutes. Another fine break by Matthew Dawn put the home side on the back foot and when he was hauled down close to the line the Blackrock forwards took over. A series of pick and goes followed before Jack Ringrose picked from the base of a ruck and raced away to score. O’Shaughnessy was again successful with his conversion attempt to leave the visitors 21-3 in front, which proved to be the score at the interval.

Naas needed a quick start to the second half to have any chance, but it was the visitors who got it. After just six minutes of the period Oliver Coffey picked up from the base of a Blackrock scrum, and the Naas defence will be extremely disappointed that he raced away with ease to score under the posts. The conversion by O’Shaughnessy was a formality and Blackrock now led by 28-3.

The home side did respond with a fine score after 54 minutes. A big carry by Tom Sheedy gave them forward momentum, and after the ball was recycled a neat sidestep by Paddy Taylor left his would be tackler floundering. Taylor quickly shipped the ball onto the supporting Jack Sheridan, who showed great pace to sprint away to score. The successful conversion by Peter Osborne made the score 28-10.

Unfortunately, this was to be the highlight of the day for Naas and there was to be no sensational comeback. Just three minutes later Conor O’Shaughnessy kicked a penalty to extend the visitors lead to 31-10. The game was now over as a contest and meandered its way to its inevitable conclusion. So much so that the large crowd present had reduced significantly in numbers by the time the game reached full-time. Those who had left missed another fine try by Blackrock, as three minutes into injury-time a deft chip by Conor O’Shaughnessy was gathered by Matthew Dawn, leading to his second and the fifth try of the afternoon for the visitors. Oliver Coffey took over the kicking duties for the conversion, which he kicked with ease to leave his side ahead by 38 points to ten. Almost immediately afterwards referee Paul Haycock blew the full-time whistle to end the agony for the home side.

Not a good day in the office for Naas and one that they will want to quickly forget. They now have a three week break before they bid to regain winning ways, when travelling to face Nenagh on Saturday, December 7th. Kick-off is at 2.30pm and as always all support will be greatly appreciated.

Naas: Peter Osborne, Jack Sheridan, Donal Conroy, Michal Haznar, David O’Sullivan, Paddy Taylor, Cormac King, Stephen Lackey, Aidan O’Kane, Adam Deay, Eoin Walshe, James O’Loughlin, Ryan Casey, Will O’Brien (capt), Darragh Murphy. Replacements: John King, Kaleem Niazi, Koloa Aisake, Muiris Cleary, Tom Sheedy, Derry Lenehan.

Blackrock College: Chris Rolland, Derry Maloney, Matthew Dawn, Brian Colclough, Matthew McCarthy, Conor O’Shaughnessy, Jack Ringrose, Paddy Moore, Liam McMahon, Joe Byrne, Roy Whelan (capt), Kaylam Tytherleigh, James Burke, Dave Fortune, Odhran Ring. Replacements: Jamie Rogan, Andrew Savage, Fionn Duggan, Tommy Butler, Jack Angulo, Oliver Coffey.

Referee: Paul Haycock.