METRONOME O'DALY LEAVES TRINITY EMPTY HANDED
Author: David O'Siochain
2006-01-09
A mesmeric place kicking display by Conor O'Daly saw off a feisty Trinity side hungry for a victory at Castle Avenue after apparently being starved over the Christmas break.

O'Daly bagged 2 conversions and 5 penalties in his 19 point haul and just as well too as the JI's struggled to find the pace of the game in the first half, due not doubt to over indulgence during the Christmas period.

The J1's welcomed back Sean Brophy from a two year intensive part-time Applied Religious Studies course at Oxford and the scholar was relishing the chance of putting one over his old alma mater. But Tarf had yet to break a sweat when they found themselves 14 points down as the students determined to run everything. O'Daly reduced the deficit to 11 points but Trinity scored again after a snipping run from their scrum-half left the Tarf backrow dead in their tracks. The J1's forced themselves back into the game reclaiming the ball from the restart and forcing a scrum in the middle of the park on the opposition 22. A simple 8 - 9 - 11 saw Peter Woods cut through the defence before beating the fullback for pace. There was just a glimmer of hope for the home side with the score at 21 - 10 at half-time.

A completely different Clontarf side emerged after the interval following a half-time barracking from coach Andy Wood. The pack began to control the tempo of the game and sapped the visitors of their boundless energy. The increased pressure on the Trinity defence forced a number of penalties, which O'Daly duly slotted to keep the scoreboard ticking over. A catch and drive from a lineout 10 metres out resulted in a try for much maligned lock forward David O'Siochain. O'Daly added the extras and suddenly Tarf were 8 points clear.

But credit to the visitors who attacked with abandon and flair but fortunately they lacked the composure to truly hurt the home side, who defended gallantly in the final quarter.

FINAL SCORE: TARF 29 TRINITY 21

An aside – I’m sure we have all noticed the huge improvement in grammar, syntax and tone in the match reports "written" by Peter Walsh. At this time, I would just like to acknowledge the immense contribution made week in and week out by Mary Walsh. It is therefore, unfair of Peter to further burden poor Mary by having her write his match reports for him, allowing him to concentrate fully on trying to look important on the sideline.

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