Terenure ... 3 Clontarf ... 16: It would be difficult to fault the attitude of both teams, who committed with gusto to playing expansive rugby at Lakelands yesterday, but their endeavour was not matched by precision. There were a myriad handling errors and poor option taking was far too prevalent, but strangely the match proved a compelling contest, not as to the outcome but the final margin of victory.
Clontarf were easily the better-drilled side with more players of ability and a clearly defined game plan. What they lacked for most of the afternoon was the patience to run through the phases, biding their time until the gaps appeared. Instead they tried to force the issue, and this resulted in players being isolated or ball kicked away stupidly.
In mitigation, it must be pointed out that Terenure did defend with great character and resilience, especially for a side low on confidence and - for that matter - points. Their reward may come later in the season, although that will be of scant consolation now.
Individually they never shirked their responsibility defensively, an admirable trait, but when asked to be productive it was a different matter entirely.
The Terenure backs gave the ball plenty of air, but with the honourable exception of centre Mark O'Kelly and to a lesser extent Matt Sutherland and Shane Cullen, progress was lateral rather than forward. O'Kelly was the exception, straightening the line and always looking to test the tackle.
Once in possession, Terenure were a liability to themselves with the exception of one spell in the second half when they enjoyed a 10-minute tour de force in the Clontarf 22.
They were heartened for most of the match by the fact that their visitors, for all their dominance, just refused to put them away. Clontarf led only 9-0 at the interval, through three penalties from full back Darragh O'Shea.
Richie Governey did miss a couple of relatively easy chances for Terenure, but they could and should have been several more scores adrift.
Clontarf's fluent patterns, meshing backs and forwards out wide, allowed them to make serious headway, but their efforts were ultimately scuppered by one error after another.
It hardly helped that right wing Daire Higgins got 10 minutes in the bin for deliberately killing the ball just short of his own line.
Fortunately the pack managed to dominate possession, mainly through the influential Ben Gissing, Bernard Jackman, Warren O'Kelly and the excellent Dave Moore. It was the latter's ability to carry ball and attract more than one defender in trying to stop him that should have given his side scope to explore gaps.
However, when they did manage quick ball there was often a forward loitering in the backline just long enough to slow the transfer of ball, thereby allowing defenders to cover two and three players at a time. When Governey kicked a penalty two minutes after the interval to reduce the deficit to six points, it coincided with Terenure's best spell of the match. But for all the perspiration there was precious little inspiration.
Clontarf survived that period without too much distress and then set about dominating the rest of the match. Time and again they were stopped inches from the Terenure line and it wasn't until the 75th minute that they mustered the score that guaranteed victory.
Gareth Rossi cleverly trailed outhalf Dave Hewitt to accept the inside pass from a ruck inside the Terenure 22. O'Shea converted to make it 16-3.
Terenure showed plenty of character but do lack quality to exploit possession. For Clontarf, it was another victory but with few bouquets for how it was achieved.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 1 min: O'Shea penalty, 0-3; 37: O'Shea penalty, 0-6; 41: O'Shea penalty, 0-9. Half-time: 0-9. 42: Governey penalty, 3-9; 75: Rossi try, O'Shea conversion, 3-16.
TERENURE: S Cullen (capt); R Devlin, M O'Kelly, M Sutherland, C Hall; R Governey, L Kennaugh; J Nolan, C Egan, S Nolan; D Quinn, M Quinn; P O'Malley, A Ryan, B Kavanagh. Replacements: C Long for Kavanagh (50 mins); F Wormsley for S Nolan (61 mins); D McAllister for Hall (72 mins); B Blaney for Egan (80 mins); R Roche for O'Malley (80 mins).
CLONTARF: D O'Shea; D Higgins, G Rossi, D McElligott, O Winchester; D Hewitt, M Walls; T Foucher, B Jackman, W O'Kelly (capt); B Gissing, A Wood; D Quinn, D Moore, S O'Donnell. Replacements: A Clarke for Foucher (50 mins); N O'Brien for McElligott.
Yellow card: D Higgins (Clontarf) 22-32 mins.
Referee: D Napier (Ulster).
