Green Shoots But No Bouquets
Clontarf put in a stirring display against a strong Blackrock side in Stradbrook on Saturday but were ultimately undone in the last quarter as the home side rode some outrageous luck to register a victory. This was a great game between two committed sides looking to put some daylight between them and the Division 1A relegation zone. Rock will be happy with the points and will have toasted the good fortune that saw them benefit from 3 positive rebounds from the woodwork that contributed 10 points. Add a superb defensive chase back that held Dufficy inches from a score under the posts plus a tight call on a forward pass as Keating was heading for the line after the ensuing scrum and you have a recipe for a charismatic conference. Maybe there are moving statues in Stradbrook!
To be fair to ‘Rock, once they got the bit between their teeth they were pretty strong. Any side with Des Dillon , Trevor Hogan and Alex Dunlop in the pack are going to hard to knock off the ball and with Ian Madigan at 10 in charmed kicking form the points racked up late in the second half as the visitors tired.
Clontarf can take great heart from a performance that, in terms of commitment, was easily their best of the season. The pack was ferociously competitive and with Hugo Nolan back from injury at nine firing some superb passes the Clontarf backline was a constant threat to the ‘Rock defence.
Tarf opened the scoring after 8 minutes with an interception from Keating in the Tarf 22, Dufficy converted. After 25 minutes of slugging Rock outhalf Madigan fielded a long kick and bounced a drop goal on the crossbar for 7 3. A Rock penalty at half time made it 7 6 to Tarf.
The second half continued as it left off and Dufficy added two penalties for 13 6 to ‘Tarf. Then the home side pressed the lucky button and Dufficy was held up on the line and Keating was pulled back after a forward pass.. ‘Rock clearly grew following their escape and after a period of pressure on the ‘Tarf line they got in after confusion was sown by the ball squirting out of a ruck to the centre Tonetti who took advantage of a static defence to score by the posts for 13 all. ‘Rock then upped a gear for the last 10 minutes and were good value for the final result as they tacked on two more penalties and a try to Conway in the corner.
We are currently third from the bottom in the League and have 5 games to go with three of those at home. There are no dominant teams in this League and it is clear to me that this young Clontarf side are improving in every game they play.
Commitment , aggression and intensity are all there. What we need now is a fraction more composure on and off the ball which will take the whistle and the flags out of the game and blow the opposition away.