Clontarf maintained a tenuous grip on first place in Division 1A with a 6 try victory over a depleted Trinity side on Saturday in College Park.
I love games in College Park. There’s a real sense of rugby history on a pitch that has two trees that are in play and a bend in the dead ball line at one end which is affectionately known as “Curly Corner“.
The Irish game was developed in Trinity. In a sense, everything that we work to perfect in our Clubs, was seeded on this ground so every visit to this patch is a homage to all we hold dear. Add in a crisp early spring (with global warming) day and you have a recipe for a real heart-warmer of a game.
Trinity have a reputation for playing fast attacking rugby. Their back line is a threat with pace and accuracy and a real handful to deal with. One method of sorting it is, of course, to deny them the ball. Clontarf are pretty efficient at that. From the off, Tarf owned the ball and made the young home side defend phase after phase against big runners. Wallop after wallop of energy sapping carries was dealt to the defenders in the opening phases as Clontarf gave a masterclass of accuracy and tempo.
The first score came from a line-out maul to Dylan Donnellan. It was followed up by a try on the left to Alex Soroka, who bounced his opposite man and went in at the corner. Scrum half Ben Murphy added the third after a frozen rope of a pass from Steve Crosbie released Matt Darcy down the left. The fourth was scored by winger Noah Sheridan after a storming break by Tadgh Bird from deep in his own half saw him step Colm Hogan only for the full back to turn and haul him in. Sheridan was on hand to receive the pop up and gratefully scored the try. Trinity got in for one just on half time with a lovely rehearsed move from a close-in penalty saw Hogan score under the posts for 7- 24 at half time.
Trinity started the second half playing up the hill and continued their period of dominance with a score to Aron Egan on the left after Hogan made huge ground up the right off first phase ball from a scrum. Egan’s elegant conversion from the touch-line made it a 10 point game and the away supporters began to shuffle nervously. However, Ben Murphy eased the anxiety with a snipe under the posts after monstrous carries from the Tarf pack into the home 22. That was followed by another home score to Hogan after a superb delayed pass from Egan put the full back clear.
That saw the score-line at 21-31 and managing the clock down became key. So when Tarf got back into the Trinity 22, some humping and grunting earned a choice two penalties, one of which was dispatched to the corner and from the resulting maul,hooker Donnellan added his second score and the game’s final score for 21-38 at full time