NAAS 17 GOREY 19

CONOR HATTON was the toast of Gorey Rugby Club at Naas on Saturday last. With the game's final act, he nailed a penalty kick five metres in from touch on his 'good' side, to give Gorey the lead for the only time in this Leinster Under-19 Premier league quarter-final.

They had fallen behind as early as the third minute. Playing structured rugby and in no particular danger, a midfield interception just inside the Naas half resulted in a breakaway try and a seven-point opener for the home side.

Gorey regained composure and territory using the slight wind and diagonal downhill to their advantage. Fullback Niall O'brien narrowed the deficit with an excellent penalty from the tenmetre line. Gorey maintained pressure with aggressive rucking and seemed marginally the stronger pack at this stage.

Utilising hill and wind, Stephen Duke probed the left touchline excellently while left wing Stephen Scallan ensured pressure on the receiver. Niall O'brien was wide with his second penalty chance on eight minutes but made no mistake with the third to leave Gorey just a point adrift after 13 minutes.
The ensuing kick-off was fielded left but run instantly right to give Andrew Walsh his first break opportunity up the right wing. However, with lack of support the attack was turned over.

Gorey, playing with the elements, perhaps sensed that they needed to forge ahead during the second quarter. However, they failed to provide an adequate go forward platform and back line handling appeared uncharacteristically flat and at times forced.
The Naas rush defence coped excellently during this phase, mostly played in their own half. An overlap opportunity playing right to left was squandered through a loose pass which hit the floor followed by a forward pass. Jordan Ahearn's excellent line-out steal saw him forge into the Naas '22. Quick re-cycling produced an overlap on the right, but again the Naas cover coped.

The half finished with a series of pick and drives close to the Naas line but a frustrated Gorey side turned around facing a one-point deficit, knowing the wind and especially the hill were against them in the half to come.
The third quarter saw Naas rack up the intensity substantially. Eddie Earle left the field with a head injury to be replaced by groundhog Danny Hughes whose support of the ball carrier in the second-half proved crucial. Gorey defended through multiple phases with fantastic discipline and intensity, forcing Naas to settle for a drop goal to extend their advantage to four points.

Now it was Naas who owned the lowest corner of the ground and Gorey struggled to achieve field position. Naas ended the quarter with a converted try after forcing their way over blind side off a ruck near the left touchline.

Now eleven points adrift and with six tired pairs of legs following the Community School's dramatic exit from the Schools Cup on Wednesday, surely there was no way back now for Gorey? What followed in the final quarter was a Munster-style comeback built on an upping of intensity, discipline, patience, belief and critically pure bottle.

They retained the ball, attacked the gain line and varied the first receiver more with better use of their pack. Naas began to have doubts, but surely they were safe? Under pressure, a Naas infringement gave Gorey a lineout six metres out. In a move straight from the training paddock, Jordan Ahearn crashed over to reduce the deficit to six points.

The game was now in injury time, which thankfully for Gorey was plentiful. Naas ensured from the re-start that it would begin deep in the Gorey half. But they were not prepared for the game's magic moment. None of us were.
A seemingly innocuous back line move just outside the Gorey '22 saw Stephen Hughes give a snappy delivery to Stephen Scallan, putting him into space on the left wing.

What followed was an outrageous jinking run, leaving four or five Naas defenders clutching air before a touchdown under the posts. With Stephen Duke failing with the conversion attempt, Naas must have thought that all their birthdays had come at once.

But Gorey again dug deep, kept their composure, gained field position and stayed patient. Conor Hatton was agonisingly short with a long-range penalty.

Captain Jordan Ahearn, thinking the game won, had to be persuaded not to kick the ball dead when the last play was called! But it was Naas who blinked first, and Hatton's glorious penalty on the Naas '22 put Gorey into the last four.

Gorey: Niall O'brien, Stephen Scallan, Clement Power, Seán Byrne, Andrew Walsh, Stephen Duke, Robert Harrington, James Sinnott, Dominic Surace, William O Morchoe, Dean Redmond, Stephen Gardiner, Conor Hatton, Eddie Earle, Jordan Ahearne (capt). Subs. - Danny Hughes, Conor Cousins, Richard Deering, Stephen Hughes, Seán Carty.