A bruising contest defined by fine margins saw Clontarf fall just short, losing 27–24 to Cork Constitution despite dominance in the tight.
”….You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or too early you don’t quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game every minute, every second …”
Con opened the scoring after a scrum penalty brought them towards the Tarf 22. Multiple phases of one pass rugby, to big runners, brought them to the line, where two passes found a man free on the left and he scored, untouched, in the corner for 0 7.
Tarf attempted to reply, but were undone by committed press defence and clunky passing in the backline. A penalty for offside saw the visitors back in the home 22, where a maul was deemed unplayable and, from the ensuing scrum, the big Con carriers went to work again, and were unlucky to be held up over the line. At this point a pattern started to develop; Tarf were dominating the set piece, particularly the scrum, but were constantly undone by jiggy backline work. This handed the ball back to Con, whose handling ambitions rarely went beyond one pass. And that was all they needed!
Big runners coming hard and direct need to be stopped on the gainline, otherwise the result is inevitable. Con managed to break the gainline and with Adam Maher at 9 keeping the tempo high and the passes short, they were a handful to deal with. Great work from Aaron Coleman and Charlie Ward managed to keep them at bay and with both home scrum and lineout working smoothly Tarf were able to bring some pressure of their own.
Tarf landed a penalty after Con infringed at the scrum in their 22, for 3 7 at half time.
The second half continued as the first left off, with Con competing in the loose and Tarf dominating in the tight. A rare infringement against Tarf in the scrum, allowed Con access the home 22, where, off the back of the lineout centre, Smith carried hard and three phases later Con made it 3 14.
Tarf responded at the kick-off, worked a great turnover, and earned a penalty, for loitering, which went to the corner. The maul did the rest, Conor Kelly added the extras for 10 14.
5 minutes later Con carried well from a lineout on half way, made it deep into the home 22, where Tarf conceded for not rolling, Con opted for multiple tap and go and scored on the right for 10 21.
Luke Brady then entered proceedings and announced his arrival with a superb turnover in the Con 22.
The maul was held but, when the ball was moved right, Tarf forced their way in to the left of the posts for 17 21.
Con added two penalties for the comfort of a ten point lead.
Tarf went in pursuit, and another maul resulted in the ball moving right where a solid carry from sub Gibney created space and Con Kelly got in for 24 27.
That’s where it stayed despite a Tarf surge for a big finish which broke down with a knock on at the Con 22.
So….. A three week break before we travel to Belfield.
To be fair some of the guys need a break. A shoutout to the two centres, Bird and O’Grady, who have been pounding away against big men without relief. They are like the US 101st airborne division, thrown into every battle without any downtime and no sign of reinforcements. Three weeks off will bring welcome respite and more clarity on our strength in depth as we go into the final league stages.
Today was one that got away. Kudos to Con who brought power and pace in a game plan that was close to risk free.
Tarf were missing accuracy, an inch here or there would have made the difference.
Peter Walsh
Chronicler of scrums, storms, and all the beautiful chaos at Castle Avenue and beyond.
