Clontarf kept the show on the road in Thomond with a first half display that overcame Shannon with three tries , two of which came 5 minutes from half time while the visitors were reduced to 14 men after Ben Reilly was the unlucky recipient of a yellow card after a team warning for persistent transgressing. This was just reward for a half of such intensity from Clontarf that Shannon simply wilted under the pressure and made critical errors which cost them the game. Notable was the pressure applied in the lineout where the Clontarf jumpers effectively sealed off the two and four jumping option forcing the home lineout to rely on the longer , and riskier, throw to the back which ultimately resulted in an error and a try to the visiting captain Barry O’Mahony.
Clontarf will be disappointed that they failed to follow up on the first half performance to seal the bonus point, however, a win in Shannon is never to be sneezed at and while ‘Tarf pursue the ‘perfect performance’ we will take the wins as they come.
On Saturday Clontarf entertain Dolphin and have an opportunity to exorcise one of their more flimsy efforts of the year. That is the beauty of this years home and away league structure, there is always an opportunity to atone for some quieter away performances at home in Castle Avenue.