On Friday night Clontarf slopped onto a wet Belfield bowl with a youngster starting only his second game in one of the most demanding positions in world sport . . . tight head prop. He went up against the current Irish U20 loose head and for half a game showed convincingly where his rugby future lies. Dylan Doyle has much to learn but since he is in the perfect place to learn the art of no 3 play he should get confidence from his performance in the knowledge that he has the strength and courage for the position. Adding the guile, technique, and consistency to make a permanent impact is the immediate job at hand. I suspect the involvement of Messrs. Healy, Furlong, Soroka, Burke Flynn, Dundon, Byrne, Hirst, Treston et al will be harnessed over time to polish this diamond.
Hopefully that will cover it . . .
Clontarf started the game ceding possession to a busy UCD side who, possibly hampered by the messy night made most progress going sideways across the pitch. After 20 minutes they had only a penalty to show for their effort. So when the ball rattled free after a big Tarf hit in midfield and was popped left to Mick McGrath, the Clontarf support were electrified by a stunning run which took out two defenders , chipped another, regathered, and pretty much carried the UCD full back Dardis five metres over the line for the try. Tarf added two penalties from classy Joey Carbury to UCD’s second for 6 – 11 Tarf at half time.
The second half saw Tarf pressurising the home side at their 22 only to lose control of the ball and quick as a flash ended up defending their own line against an ultimately successful home effort and a 13 – 11 score-line. Cue Mick McGrath again who was on hand to finish some great work, initially by Adrian Darcy who took a dead ball up hard to reinject momentum and then Rob Keogh and Michael Brown linked to bamboozle the defence on the blindside for Mick to storm over for 13 – 18 . The game then fell into a pattern with Tarf defending well in the UCD half and forcing penalties which were coolly converted by Joey Carbury. Joey went on to add two more 3 pointers to UCD’s solitary effort for a final score of 16 – 24.
As I mentioned earlier Dylan Doyle had his first run out in an UBL fixture and having tested himself against a high standard handed the baton to a familiar figure. Dave Moore has a long and honourable history with Clontarf. As a number of the clubs props are away with Ireland and Leinster or are temporarily injured Dave responded to the call, threw down his pipe and slippers (XXXXL), put away his birth cert, and clumped back to the front row battleground with his youthful lieutenants in attendance. I am not qualified to rate his performance at 3 in the technical sense; however, for artistic interpretation I have to give him 10 out of 10. He made a huge contribution to the victory, scrummaged like a small building, rucked like a small building, and walked off smiling. I wonder how he felt on Saturday morning?
As the champion decathlete Daley Thompson said . . .
“Form is temporary . . . class is permanent”.