‘One to forget’ for Clontarf the rugby pundits would say as the Section B League leaders lose their unbeaten record. RUBBISH … I say ….. One definitely to remember.
Clontarf learned a number of hard lessons in this game and it is crucial to the success of the future campaign that they remember them. Despite a perfect start when Sam Cronin put Martin Garvey in with a clever reverse pass, Clontarf gave young Dungannon team miles too much latitude and paid the ultimate price for it. Approaching half time with a 11 3 lead and looking relatively comfortable Clontarf lost concentration defending in their 22 and allowed Dungannon number 10 Paddy Jackson to scoot in untouched for the try . His conversion brought the score to 11 10 and gave the home team huge positive momentum going into the second half.
To their credit they continued to build phases and as they grew in confidence their precision and accuracy at speed increased. For large parts of the second half they gave Clontarf a lesson in fast paced rugby as they pulled the visitors defence all over the place.
In the second half they tagged on another 2 tries and added both conversions also. They were full value for their win.