Clontarf v Garryowen
Author: Peter Walsh
2004-12-20
Aib Ail Division 1 18/12/2004

Clontarf 32 Garryowen 19



Two weeks ago Clontarf travelled to Cork to take on Constitution without the spine of their backline. Out due to injury or provincial commitments was no’ 9 Walls, no’ 10 McAllister, no’ 14 O’Brien and no’ 15 Hewitt. Without this experience ‘Tarf struggled manfully to create phases and ended up falling to a frustrating loss by 19 points to 10. Full credit must go to Paul Ryan and Kevin O’Dowd at half back who never stopped competing but were undone by some typical Munster experience in the end.

On Saturday in a cold and wet Castle Ave the boys were back in town and the home side rocked.
This was probably Clontarf’s strongest performance in two years. For the first 30 minutes they were well nigh unstoppable and could easily have scored 4 more tries to add to the three that they got. They were dominant everywhere; the scrum was solid, the lineout was smooth, and the half backs were awesome with Mike Walls subtly changing angles to release his bullocking forwards and McAllister alternating between releasing the speed outside and taunting Garryowen with delicate line kicks.
The control at half back allied to the strength of the pack spread confidence like wildfire through the home side. After 10 minutes left wing Rossi screamed onto a pass at half way and was only barely held up at the line; the ball went quickly right and Moore put Mark Hewitt at the corner. Five minutes later some superb phase play created fast ball and Mahony straightened on a short ball for another score. Ten minutes before half time Dave Moore picked from wheeled 5 metre scrum and gleefully crushed the young Garryowen out half like he was a balsa wood picket fence. The score at half time was 21 3 with McAllister successfully converting the three tries.

The second half was a torrid affair as Garryowen applied themselves with great pride.
However the could make little headway in the teeming rain as mistakes and fatigue took over. Clontarf made the most of a penalty with a five metre lineout and maul for O’Donnell to score and secure the bonus point. The Limerick men forced two tries as the clock wound down but could not pull back the first half deficit.

Clontarf now sit at the top of the AIL. The next game is away in College Park against Trinity on the 8th January.
The players. coaching staff, and management would like to wish all our loyal and longsuffering supporters a happy, healthy, nourishing, liquid Christmas and a fat New Year.

---