Clontarf continued their murderous form with a multi-try demolition of UL Bohs in Limerick on a sunny Saturday at Annacotty. Having discussed the importance of a strong start the visitors were delighted to rack up 14 unanswered points within 8 minutes as UL struggled to live with the early pace. It didn’t help the home side that they lost two props to injury resulting in uncontested scrums from the 20 minute mark. In the normal scheme of things going uncontested in the scrum suits a college side as it removes a potent attacking weapon from the gnarly city types. However, in this instance it backfired badly because while it gave some respite to the students it also released the Clontarf props from their primary energy sapping responsibilities. The result was carnage with Royce Burke Flynn gambolling around the park, full of happy energy, doing a passable impression of an elephant in a henhouse; and Kieran Kavanagh, back from a long break, storming around smashing people for fun. I would mention here that Kav replaced Tighe Furlong who took a heavy wallop in a double tackle and is currently in St Vincent’s with a bruised kidney. I’m reliably informed by a nurse I know that the treatment for this involves a catheter… May I suggest that we collect all our used “suitable reading material” and sent it to the Tiger, c/o Vincent’s Hospital, with our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery!
UL managed to get to half time without conceding another score more due to Clontarf profligacy than anything else. Once the second half started, however, they couldn’t hang on and Clontarf got stronger and stronger imposing their patterns and displaying some wonderful all round skills. Key to the performance was the form of Sam Cronin at 9 who gave another stunning display of tactical awareness along with an insatiable appetite for the rough stuff when required. On this form he is a bloody nuisance for the opposition snapping around like a terrier after a beef burger.
In all Clontarf scored 7 tries, including only one for Simon Crawford ! … Cathal O’Flynn opened the scoring by athletically hurling himself over a prone defender which makes a change from hurling his lunch over the sideline. Mick McGrath, in pugnacious style, got a brace and on the other wing Richie Lane got one after a gut wrenching sprint to the corner which nearly required a parachute to stop him(Inspired by Cheltenham no doubt?). There were also scores for Noel Reid, a constant threat from fullback, and Adrian Darcy who finished off a sparkling burst of inter passing for a try by the posts.
Final score was 47 – 7 and a happy journey home to the Clontarf annual dinner where a healthy group of players settled in for the evening to witness one of the great traditions of Irish Club Rugby. Essentially it’s a bunch of old guys getting very jarred up, talking absolute drivel, and marvelling at their drunken ability to whizz in a straight line.