Clontarf welcomed Young Munster to windy Castle Avenue on Saturday and opted to play against the elements for the first half .
Playing into, what was generally accepted, a 12 point wind, the home side set about proving that fact by gifting the visitors a try directly from the kick-off, which was grabbed, unchallenged, by the YM left winger, who strolled in for the 7 points. 5 minutes later a speculative kick-through looked to be covered by the home defence, but inexplicably the ball spun away from the pursuers and the YM right wing pounced for another gift score.
So,12 points down after 10 minutes was not ideal. However, despite how comic this team manages to be, one thing it does not do is panic. Once Clontarf got hold of the ball and maintained possession, the phase building began to pay dividends and when a strong surge into the visitors 22 by Noah Sheridan was moved left, winger Cian O’Donohoe powered over for the first home score . The second came on the stroke of half time when quick hands and a sublime line from Tadhg Bird saw the fullback clear and he had the pace and angle to make it in from 50 metres for a classic try.
The second half served up another early score when YM failed to deal with the kick-off and the ball found itself in the hands of JJ O’Dea, who pinballed through the home defence and put Sheridan in at the corner. With the conversion, that left Tarf now up 17 – 12 and when the forwards pinned the Munster’s scrum under their own posts, the inevitable score came from Matt Darcy who fed off a Tony Ryan pick from the scrum. Sub out half, Con Kelly added a penalty for 27 – 12 and the Tarf faithful settled for a cruise to the final whistle and a bonus point victory stroll to the bar.
Young Munster had other ideas, however, and straight from the kick-off, turned over possession on the edge of the home 22 and after multiple phases of pick and grunt, got in beside the posts and converted for 27-19 and a glimmer of hope. That glimmer became a full-on beam, when their full back took a fast tap-penalty and won the kick and chase for another score and 27-24 and fast bubbling heartburn for everyone in red and blue on the sideline. Thankfully for Tarf, that was the final score and the final whistle was greeted more with relief than joy by the home supporters .
A great game with plenty for both sets of supporters to cheer. Odds are these two sides will meet again this year .