Clontarf burped and stumbled back to 4th place in the UBL with a performance lacking in pace and accuracy which threatened to come alive for the home team on a number of occasions only to die on a dropped ball or an inaccurate pass with the line beckoning. For long periods of the game it was like watching soccer with one team playing with its legs tied together. Clontarf tried manfully to shake off a direct and aggressive Young Munster team, and , in failing to do so, fed the fire of defiance that the visitors lit in the first half and which ultimately saw them to a classic , against the odds, final drop goal for the win.
It is hard not to believe that the home side left an awful lot behind on the pitch. There were no issues with creating chances, indeed, cynics could say that Clontarf created all the chances including the Munsters ones through questionable game management as well as their own through some superb phase building only to see the final movement fail miserably when scoring seemed the simpler and more likely option. The option of going to the air was pursued relentlessly to little avail and became predictable to defend for a side schooled in the basics of catch and kick Munster rugby.
We now need to up our concentration levels to go to Templeville Rd and visit a St Marys side who will be playing without the stress of relegation hanging on them.
Not an easy prospect.