CLONTARF REFUSE TO YIELD!
21/01/2008
Old Belvedere 14 Clontarf 16


“For all your days prepare, and meet them ever alike:
When you are the anvil, bear........
When you are the hammer, strike!”

Edwin Markham , American Poet 1852-1940

It occurred to me that when it has been bucketing down for the third day in a row the only people looking out their bedroom windows with any optimism have got to be pigs or hippos or fish.

This was a messy day so the game was going to revolve around the static game and the resolve of the participants to see it through to the end. The static game was split evenly with Old B competing athletically on the Clontarf throw and ‘Tarf mullering the Belvo scrums in return. Belvedere opened brightly and were camped in the Clontarf half for the first 20 minutes where they earned and kicked two penalties to jump into a 6 nil lead. It could have been greater but for a superb tackle by Max Rantz Mc Donald on one of the Belvo forwards who snuck blind off a maul 10 yards out. As the game moved toward half time Clontarf started to grind up the gears and a well worked throw and return in a lineout put Trenier clear to the home 22 where an infringement led to a 5 yard lineout which was duly mauled over for Carson to score.
The second half opened with the home side leading 6 5 and giving as good as they got around the park. After 47 minutes the pack had worked the phases around the Belvo 22 but Pete O’Brien decided that there was nothing on and slotted a drop goal. Belvo replied almost immediately with a penalty for 9 8 and when Keatley slotted a simple penalty for offside the score moved to 9 11 and the final dramatic quarter.

With 19 minutes remaining Belvo attacked at the Clontarf 22 and after some strong ball retention opposed by some massive hits by the Clontarf defence Belvo 13 O’Malley slid a super kick towards the corner which Pete O’Brien did well to pick up. Unfortunately, his kick was blocked by the Belvo flanker Shanley and the ball stopped dead just over the line for the Belvo man to follow up and score. So 14 11 to the home side and the clock ticking down.
As we moved towards full time Belvo were camped on the Clontarf 22 recycling fringe attacks to either run the clock down or draw the Clontarf defence into conceding a game securing penalty. Clontarf held their discipline superbly and after about 20 phases Belvo were caught offside for a Clontarf scrum. From the scrum the ball went wide to Keane who bashed it up to the 22 where Belvo infringed for a penalty which Keatley put into the home 22. From the lineout Clontarf went through about 10 phases before Philip Howard was bundled into touch on the right for a Belvo lineout.

At this point we were 5 minutes into injury time and the crowd were roaring and the home team were on the cusp of a famous victory and had one throw in to the lineout and had to get it right so they could get the ball out of play and the ref could blow his whistle and we could all go to the bar and have a good laugh and maybe a cry and all would be well in the Lodge.

Martin Garvey took the Belvo lineout one handed ….. now Clontarf had the ball…….

At this point the Belvo defence was going into shock….. Clontarf having defended keep ball at the other end then handed out a lesson in the painful realities of the modern Club game. After 7 phases of patient but ferocious pounding the ball went left to O’Shea who held the defence long enough for Keane to line up his man and when the winger got the ball there was only going to be one impact with one result. Try Clontarf and the game 14 to 16.

It was tough on the young home team who were more than sporting about the result.

For Clontarf it was a superb example of sheer bloody minded grit. The day didn’t go all that well at times and there are things to work on but on Saturday 20 guys showed what a team can achieve with composure and a resolute refusal to go down. It was a credit to the squad and the coaching staff.
The 12/15 minute period between defending with cool heads on their own 22 to keeping the ball on the Belvo line for the right opportunity to arise was a fantastic display of control in the most demanding conditions. 

We are now in third place and if we build on that performance, iron out some of the glitches in the static game, then we can look forward to the future challenges with some confidence.

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