Clontarf maintained a 7 point lead at the top of division 1A with a patchy victory over an enthusiastic Shannon side in Thomond Park on Saturday. As you would expect, after the long Christmas break much of the initial action was punctuated by errors, with both sides coughing up possession at lineout time.
The most notable actions in the first quarter were two yellow cards to Clontarf. The first, shown to Tony Ryan came at the first phase of play in the game after he impeded the home scrum-half on a fast tap penalty at the half way line. A hard call in any book which would have consequences at the finish of the game, as he grabbed another for an innocuous high shot and was sent to the line for the first time in his career. The second went to Jim Peters for a pass-interference in the Tarf 22.
After 20 minutes Tarf got on the board following a super break by Noah Sheridan that resulted in a home lineout deep in the Shannon 22. True to the tempo of the game to that point, the ball was overthrown by Shannon to the grateful Soroka, who marched to the line and after a few phases Dylan scored by the posts for 0 7 . Five minutes later after faffing around in the Shannon 22 Tarf were repelled by a kick downfield but set up quickly and a fast flick-on pass from Tony Ryan put Fionn Gilbert clear and Tony ran support to take the scoring pass and score under the posts for 0 14. With 4 to go to half time, Clontarf repelled a home maul and marched downfield courtesy of Jack Murphy’s peerless line kicking. A period of pressure in the home 22 earned a penalty for a high shot and Jack converted for 0 17 .
Unfortunately, Clontarf fluffed the kickoff and Shannon made good use of the territory and got in on the right, after super ball retention through multiple phases. That left the score 7 17 at Half Time.
Early in the second half a penalty to Shannon, for a high tackle, was converted for 10 17. From that point on the game went into Keystone Cops phase with multiple errors from both sides. The only sweet spot in this period was the dominance of the Clontarf scrum, which was critical in the away side’s dominance of territory. As we moved into the final quarter, Clontarf finally put some controlled phases in. Matt Darcy carried hard and when the ball moved left, Mark O’Sullivan scorched into the home 22 where after a few phases Tarf earned a penalty and Yellow for the defenders. Tarf went to the corner and Shannon , now with a big unit in the bin, we’re shunted back in the maul and Dylan flopped over for 10 24 .
The next phase saw Clontarf exit nicely from the kick-off but, inexplicably, lose concentration at a ruck pillar and Shannon broke through untouched and scored under the posts for 17 24 and the prospect of a big finish.
Shannon then went about delivering the said big finish and attacked in waves requiring two superb turnovers from Richie Whelan and Tony Ryan at one phase and Louis O’Reilly at a second two minutes later. Deep into injury time Tarf looked to have raised the siege when Louis O’Reilly got an interception that moved play to the home 22. However, multiple penalties saw them back down the pitch again and another high tackle saw Shannon add a penalty for 20 24. That was that in a game that stuttered into life on only a few occasions and was punctuated by inaccuracy and lapses in concentration by both sides. Tarf will be happy with their set phases. The scrum was immense and was the primary tool to access the home 22. The lineout functioned well also. Both Jack Murphy and Con Kelly kicked beautifully and the finishing was ruthless when line breaks were made.
Next week we have our season’s primary fixture with the visit of Lansdowne to Castle Avenue. This has been Clontarf’s bellwether fixture in Div 1A for the past 10 years and a huge fixture for decades before that. Given that Lansdowne were formed in 1872 and Clontarf in 1876 it must rank as one of the longest running competitive fixtures in Irish Club rugby?