TARF START WITH A STUMBLE AT CON
16/10/2006
Cork Constitution 20 Clontarf 10



And so another AIL season kicked off in Temple Hill on Saturday and with it an immediate burst of indigestion and heartburn for the Clontarf travelling support.
It was hardly a surprise that Con flew out of the blocks at the opening whistle. After all, its their home ground, they recruited well in the off season, and they probably had warm memories of two poundings they received last year in Castle Ave to motivate them.
The surprise was the tepid response they received from last years finalists.
It took ‘Tarf at least 30 minutes to get into the game. By that point we were 13 points to nil down after Con’s Nethery kicked two penalties and the conversion of an excellent Frank Cogan try.
Our backline was finding it difficult to get into any rhythm and we were being isolated and picked off too easily when we went wide. Con defended in terrier fashion and worked hard both on and off the ball to make sure we didn’t settle.
Unfortunately they were aided by the referee Alain Rolland who is becoming a bit of a bogeyman for the Clontarf Club. His intervention in the 38th minute when ‘Tarf were working a two man overlap in the Con 22 was very badly timed and the fact that he awarded an attacking scrum after talking to the Clontarf captain and the Con outhalf left the supporters of both clubs incredulous. Surely if there wasn’t a penalty offence the little chat could have waited until a break in play? …. Particularly, considering that the break was likely to have been after a Clontarf try!
It was a critical and clumsy intervention by a referee with an international reputation and it sorely affected the game.
However , ‘Tarf immediately followed up with some incompetence of their own and promptly threw a loose pass on the Con line that was intercepted and resulted in a seven pointer and a 20 0 lead to Con at half time.
The second half was more encouraging as the Clontarf pack took control and powered over the line for two super mauled scores. Critically, when about to repeat the feat for a third they miscommunicated and the ball was lost with the line at their mercy. Five minutes later they forced a five metre scrum under the Con posts and incredibly elected to go wide where the move broke down. From that point on Con regained some control and were happy to keep us in our own half for the remainder of the game.
The second half performance of the pack was extremely encouraging ……… One wonders how the game would have unfolded if we had started that way?

Congratulations to the J1 side who beat Terenure on Sunday by 40 points to nil scoring six tries in the process; four by the backline which is shaping into quite a nifty unit. That is 5 wins out of five and maximum 25 points. Next Sunday we are away to Old Belvedere.

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