TARF DENIED BY GARRYOWEN POWER
30/04/2007
‘Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.’

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)



Clontarf 15 Garryowen 28


Clontarf’s pursuit of the AIL Trophy is becoming a little like the journey of Odysseus home to Ithaca from the Trojan wars. Around every corner, in every cave ,and on every island there seems to be a lurking monster to be overcome.
This years lurking monsters appeared in the shape of Garryowen and unfortunately for ‘Tarf had no intension of being overcome.
Three weeks ago the Limerick men messed Clontarf in the first 20 and built a slender lead which they defended with passion and a little luck. On Saturday ‘Tarf, playing with the wind in the first half, jumped out to a 15 3 lead after 25 minutes and looked to be cruising.Derek Keane scored two wonderful tries after, in the first instance, great off the top ball from Garvey followed by two skip passes by Pete O’Brien and Mark Hewitt and , in the second, a great reverse pass by Darragh O’Shea. Conal Keane added a penalty to cancel out a three pointer from Garryowen’s Munster out half Eoin Hickey.
With ten minutes to go before half time the game turned on two incidents. Firstly Clontarf powered down the right and created space out wide on the left; unfortunately the cross kick to the left corner drew three Clontarf players and in the confusion the chance was lost. 5 minutes later Garryowen turned over ball in the centre and attacked down the left. Martin Garvey was adjudged to have killed their ball and was binned. The penalty went to the corner and after some stout defence the Garryowen captain Paul Neville got in at the corner. So from a potential 20 3 lead to 15 8. The binning was unfortunate but we were also managing without a fully fit Simon Crawford who walloped his head on the ground and was quite concussed.
Playing with a stiffening breeze in the second half Garryowen turned the screw with their backrow outstanding and their half backs making sure the game was played deep in Clontarf’s half. From there they attacked the Clontarf lineout and with the home side denied meaningful possession the writing was on the wall.
A try from Varley after an excellent break from scrum half Hurley sent them on their way, Hickey added another penalty and when Hurley zipped down the blindside for a classic scrum half score it was done and dusted. Garryowen headed for Musgrave and Cork Con and Clontarf headed for the bar.

Once again a home semi final pulled out the crowd with a mob from Garryowen joining the Clontarf faithful to create a massive atmosphere. It was a superb day with everything that is good in Irish Club rugby on show.

On Sunday the self flagellation continued as the Metro League champion J1’s barely failed to make the double losing to Lansdowne by a solitary point 33 32. It was a superb comeback after a nightmare start which saw ‘Tarf concede three tries to counterattacks. At one point we were losing 20 3 so to pull it back and lose at the death was tough on this side.

P.S. On a better note…. On Sunday our very own Cian Healy was called up to the Irish squad going to England for the Churchill Cup. The meteoric rise continues!! 

IS IT A BIRD?  IS IT A PLANE?

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