Ultimately is was the sloppy weather that was to have the greatest impact on this game. On a messy day against a big Con pack it doesn’t help to have a few of your gorillas unavailable. As the game moved into the final quarter and substitutions began to have a telling effect , it was clear that Clontarf were unable to match the Con power game with experience off the bench. Having already lost two hookers to injury the home side were also forced to rejig both scrum and lineout which negated the wide game which had offered so much potential earlier in the match. With the benefit of hindsight it was a pity that , with the team in full flow , we were unable to make more of the myriad of chances that were created . Is it me or are we squandering 2 on 1 opportunities to beat the band ?
Richie Lane opened the scoring with a penalty after three but then Con gave notice of their power by camping in our 22 and refusing to yield until they had forced a score from out half Johnny Holland. Tarf’s dominance of possession yielded a beauty to Tom Byrne after a superb break and offload from Killian Lett. Unfortunately we made a dog’s dinner of the restart and Con , true to form , camped in our 22 and didn’t leave until they scored. In the second half Mick McGrath added another for Tarf and from that point on the pressure on the home side began to tell as the visitors upped the physicality on the wilting Tarf side. With ten to go they scored through second row Brian Hayes after some weak defense at the side of a ruck and when they added a penalty to their tally Tarf were 4 behind with little time to play. They did pile it on though and were building phases under the Con posts when a knock on ended the home supporters hopes and the game.