Sport

Clontarf safe

Paul Noble's try five minutes into injury time saved Clontarf's season and, unfortunately, broke Blackrock's.

Mon Apr 19 1999 - 01:00

Paul Noble's try five minutes into injury time saved Clontarf's season and, unfortunately, broke Blackrock's.

It was a remarkable end to an otherwise unremarkable season for Clontarf, with coach Brent Pope still uncommitted about his future at Castle Avenue despite Saturday's events at Lakelands Park.

Trailing 18-12 with 20 minutes remaining, the question of what Clontarf needed to stay up was soon dismissed by one hack who claimed such talk was merely wading in the realms of fantasy. Terenure looked well in command, with scrum-half Derek Hegarty controlling the game.

But an able Clontarf pack, led superbly by number eight Craig Brownlie, soon began to turn things around, and on the hour Noble launched Clontarf's assault with the first of two tries.

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At that stage Clontarf needed to win by at least 10 points with news of the Blackrock and Ballymena game filtering through to the sidelines. But if time seemed against them, Clontarf continued and a Peter McQuillan try in injury time brought proceedings to a frenetic climax.

Then came the crucial score. Scrum-half Ronan O'Reilly broke into the Terenure 22. The recycled ball found Noble on the wing, and he got over in the right corner. Murphy converted from the touchline.

Scoring sequence: 2 mins: R Murphy pen 0-3; 20: Murphy pen 0-6; 22: Murphy pen 0-9; 30: M Smith try, B Treacy con 7-9; 38: Treacy pen 10-9; 40: Treacy pen 13-9; 45: Murphy drop goal 13-12; 58: G Dempsey try 18-12; 61: P Noble try 18-17; 77: Murphy pen 18-20; 82: P McQuillan try 18-25; 85: Noble try, Murphy con 18-32.

Terenure College: C Clarke; P Walsh, B Treacy, M Smyth, G Dempsey; S Cullen, D Hegarty; K Coleman, J Blaney, J Campbell, D Quinn, C Potts, A Lamont, P O'Malley, G Hill. Replacements: B Doyle for Lamont (77 mins), D Lynagh for Clarke (80 mins).

Clontarf: M Woods; P Noble, D McElligot, S Fitzsimons, O Winchester; R Murphy, R O'Reilly; H Hurley, B Jackman, W O'Kelly, C Power, D Moore, D O'Brien, P Ward, C Brownlie. Replacements: P McQuillan for O'Kelly (56 mins), T Kearns for Jackman (58 mins).

Referee: A Lewis (ARLB).