Clontarf 27- 16 Ballynahinch

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Clontarf banished the demons of their last three defeats at Castle Avenue on Saturday with a solid try scoring first half performance which caught the visitor’s cold.

The game was barely three minutes old when a great line from Karl Moran put centre Michael Browne in for the opening score beside the posts. The first half continued in the same vein with Clontarf creating phases at will and stretching ‘Hinch all over the place.

The reality is that the home side managed another two tries (to McGrath and Darcy) but in truth could have had double that given their early dominance. The second half was a different affair as the northerners tightened their defence considerably, held ‘Tarf to one penalty and began to compete in the set phases to some effect.

In fact at one stage, at the end of the third quarter, they had reduced the deficit to 11 points and were camped in the ‘Tarf 22 for what seemed like about 15 minutes. Thankfully the defence held firm as a try to the visitors at that stage could have swung the momentum. Again, it is really encouraging to see the commitment to defence that the team is showing. It was a powerful effort in the circumstances. Congratulations to Tony Ryan who gave a mammoth man of the match performance.