Navan Senior Men's made their centenary season home debut at Balreask Old in round two of the 2024/25 Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A season with Limerick side Old Crescent the visitors to the Meath venue.

After a narrow loss to Greystones last week, Navan was eager to get back to winning ways but ultimately had to settle for a draw after a hard-fought contest.

Navan started brightly, with out-half Tom Gavigan crossing the try line after just seven minutes following a 40-metre break. Mark Farrell added the conversion despite the ball falling off the tee. Old Crescent responded with a penalty from their fly-half Ronan McKenna in the 17th minute, but Navan extended their lead to 10-3 with a Farrell penalty.

Coming up to halftime, Navan added to their score with a try by Rory Gordon in the left-hand corner finishing off a move that started with Navan breaking through the Crescent defence in midfield, though a second penalty from McKenna kept Old Crescent within striking distance. At halftime, Navan led 15-6.

The second half saw a big momentum shift, with a third penalty kick from McKenna cutting Navan’s lead to six points.

Discipline became an issue for Navan, with two yellow cards shown to the home side.

The visitors took advantage with Old Crescent's substitute front-rower Casey Tanyi scoring a try in the 55th minute, converted by McKenna, who also added two more crucial penalties to edge his team ahead 15-22.

Navan responded with a late try by Kyle Dixon in the last ten minutes, converted by Gavigan, levelling the match.

Both teams pressed for a winner, but the match ended in a hard-fought draw, with both sides taking two league points each.

Navan will look back on missed opportunities and seek to improve ahead of their last game in this opening block of the campaign when they welcome undefeated Connacht side Galway Corinthians to Balreask Old next Saturday 5th October with a 2:30pm kick-off.

Navan Men's 1st's XV Squad (Sponsored by Hannon Travel): Shane Walshe, Harry Devlin, Rory Gordon, Evan Dixon (capt), Mark Coen; Tom Gavigan, Mark Farrell; James Wyse, Jayden Henderson, Liam Carroll, Jordan Finney, Liam McAree, Kyle Dixon, Thomas Ciot, Lazlo Pschorn.

Replacements: Gary Faulkner, Leigh Jackson, Cormac Kenny, Jack Dixon, Cormac Horan.