Another Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B campaign began last Saturday afternoon, when Naas hosted UCC in Forenaughts, and with many new faces in the home squad there was a large crowd present to see the impact that they would have. The home supporters left happy as Naas comprehensively secured all five points on offer and were full value for their 20-point winning margin.

Obviously it takes time for a new side to gel, and there was some rustiness on show in the opening quarter, as Naas despite playing into a strong breeze dominated both territory and possession, but a number of handling errors prevented them turning their superiority into points on the scoreboard. They were made to pay for this when UCC took a surprise lead after 21 minutes. The visitors turned over the ball on half-way and moved it wide to Gene O’Leary Kareem. He took play down the right wing before passing inside to Deckie Fitzgerald, who in turn found Neville O’Leary who raced clear to score beside the posts. James Wixted successfully slotted the conversion.

However, it did not take Naas long to respond. Within 30 seconds of the restart Cormac King did brilliantly to get hands on the ball in the ruck, winning Naas a penalty which was dispatched to touch by Daniel Tickelpenny. From the line-out Naas set up a driving maul before Liam Gilheany-Black broke away. He was stopped just short on the line, but Jamie Bohan was on hand to crash over for a try on his Naas AIL debut. Although Paddy Taylor was just off the mark with his conversion attempt, Naas were right back in the game trailing by seven points to five.

Indeed that was to be the score at the interval, as the remaining play in the first half was largely uneventful and passed by without incident.

The second half was a totally different matter as Naas proceeded to play some great rugby, scoring no less than five tries. Within four minutes of the restart they were in front. From a scrum on the 22, the ball was moved into midfield where Charlie Sheridan took a great line and powered right up to the line. When he was stopped the ball was quickly moved by Cormac King out to Daniel Tickelpenny, and from close range he marked his Naas AIL debut with a try. Then on 48 minutes, UCC completely overthrew a line-out which was gleefully gathered by Liam Gilheany-Black, and he became the third player of the afternoon to mark his Naas AIL debut with a try. However, Paddy Taylor who did not enjoy a good day from the kicking tee, failed to convert either score leaving the score at Naas 15 – UCC 7.

The try scoring bonus point was secured by Naas after 57 minutes. A great line-out steal by James O’Loughlin gave Naas the platform to attack, and following a number of carries, Oisin Halpin threw a long pass out to Donal Conroy who sidestepped an attempted tackle before racing away to score. Daniel Tickelpenny took over the kicking duties, but he too was unable to add the extras.

It was all Naas now and they were carving open the UCC defence at will, and only desperate defending kept them from increasing their lead until the 67th minute, when following a line-out take by Oisin Halpin, Naas set up a big driving maul that UCC were unable to contain and saw David Upton becoming the fourth player making his AIL debut to score. Then on 72 minutes Cillian Redmond soared majestically to take a high clearance kick by UCC, the ball was quickly recycled, and from this a lovely flat pass by Daniel Tickelpenny put Titas Cesonis away to become another AIL debutant to score. Tickelpenny converted the second of these scores to leave Naas 32-7 in front.

To their credit UCC never stopped trying and they were rewarded after 76 minutes when Daire O’Callaghan did really well to get in at the corner for a fine score. James Wixted missed the difficult conversion attempt, to leave it 32-12 in favour of Naas, which proved to be the final score.

All in all, this was a very satisfactory start to the campaign for Naas. All their facets of play looked in decent working order, with the scrum in particular very impressive, while the impact of their debutantes and the bench must have given satisfaction to the recruitment team who have worked tirelessly all summer. Obviously bigger tests await and one of these is next Saturdaywhen Naas travel south to face Nenagh. The Tippperarymen plied their trade in Division 1A last season and began this campaign with a fine away victory over Highfield, so they will represent a stern test for Naas. Kick-off is at 2.30pm and as always all support will be greatly appreciated.

Naas: Cillian Redmond, Donal Conroy, Charlie Sheridan, Paddy Taylor, David O’Sullivan, Daniel Tickelpenny, Cormac King, Jamie Bohan, Liam Gilheany-Black, Stephen Lackey, Oisin Halpin, James O’Loughlin, Jason Cutler, Muiris Cleary, Ryan Casey (capt). Replacements: David Upton, Jack Walters, Titas Cesonis, Conor Butler, Andrew Sherlock, James Buckeridge.

UCC: Daniel Murphy, Neville O’Leary, Gene O’Leary Kareem, Cian Corkery, James Wixted, Deckie Fitzgerald, Jack Casey, Fionn O’Sullivan, Stephen O’Shaughnessy (capt), Daniel McCarthy, Killian O’Connell, Dylan Mullen, Casey Whelan, David Nowak, Ted O’Callaghan. Replacements: Darragh Prenter, Alex Hamilton, Eddie Dooley, Daniel Rock, Ronan Byrd, Daire O’Calllaghan.

Referee: Ross Whitfield.