Clontarf moved to the top of Division 1A after victory over an enthusiastic but inexperienced Terenure in Lakelands on a beautiful autumnal Friday night. Well, to be fair, it was beautiful for the spectators under the trees on the lake side. Perhaps it was less beautiful for the players dealing with a wet ball.
Clontarf will be pleased with the result but have plenty of work to do around the matter of dealing more accurately with almost total dominance of possession. Against a more experienced side we could have lost that game on a scruffy error or interception. Once again we started with explosions of energy which were denied reward due to hot headed inaccuracy at the breakdown. This lead to defensive penalties at crucial phases. Despite destroying the home scrum we seemed unable to turn possession into points. Clontarf were undone on many occasions by the home defence which held its ground well and chose wisely which wide phase to flood. This resulted in service to the ‘Tarf scrum half which could not have been sloppier had it hissed out from under the tail of a sick bullock.
On the positive side, this was game we totally dominated from start to finish. Our scrum, with the returned Royce Burke Flynn and Jason Harris Wright was monumentally destructive. Our lineout was close to perfect and our defence was solid. Going forward, Mick McGrath was his usual scary self and was unlucky not to score; Joey Carbury managed himself through a “blue” patch with his kicking and was back in the groove when it was important and our back row thundered in the loose.
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On Sunday we welcomed the Terenure Under 20’s to Castle Avenue for the latest instalment of the U20’s journey. Terenure arrived with a perfect record which stretched back as far as Noah from the comments on the side-line. But, as the adage goes, records are there to be broken. And boy did the ‘Tarf boys shred their record.
This is my second time (apologies for that) supporting this side and it is a real pleasure to watch a defence like this. Terenure had no answers to the line speed and energy that the home side applied and as the game progressed and the Tarf confidence increased they started knocking in some great tries as well. It was a seminal performance against a team with a serious reputation who can have no excuses. ‘Nure were beaten by a better ‘Tarf side on the day, a side which now can kick on to higher levels knowing they have the ammo to battle with any opponents.
Final score was 30 – 13 (I think)
Next week they are in Castle Avenue again. It would be well worth your time to come down and support them.