Clontarf were warmly received for having done the decent thing and made the effort to fulfil Sunday's re-arranged AIB League first division fixture against Shannon at Thomond Park. Off the pitch at any rate.
On it, for their troubles, they were clinically dissected by the one-time kingpins who showed the ruthless streak of yore with a 48-8 win which elevated them into second place.
Ultimately, conditions were quite favourable, allowing for a howling wind which at least helped the impressive Thomond Park surface dry out. This is particularly ironic given the troubles which the re-sodded pitch suffered a couple of seasons back but it also begged the question whether the IRFU (on holidays seemingly en bloc for the week) and other clubs could have gone to greater efforts to have games played over the bank holiday weekend. This is particularly true of derbies such as the Terenure-Blackrock game, all the more so if Munster or Leinster add to the fixture backlog by progressing in Europe.
In any event, a cruel form of Murphy's Law seemed to hit Clontarf, particularly out-half Richie Murphy, who struck the Shannon crossbar with two long-range penalties and an upright with a conversion in the first-half. Playing with the stiff wind behind them, Clontarf took the game to their hosts from the off and were encamped for the opening five minutes on the Shannon line.
Appearing likely to score beside the posts, they instead saw Shannon hooker Frankie Roche emerge with turnover ball on the opposite side of the ruck and gallop away, with John O'Neill, Brian Buckley, Cormac O'Loughlin and O'Neill again providing the support before flanker David Quinlan scored from 40 metres out.
Although a Murphy penalty and a Donal Sheahan try deservedly edged Clontarf in front, an injury-time Andrew Thompson penalty after a big break by the in-form O'Neill must have left them scratching their heads as they trailed 10-8 at the interval. After another Thompson penalty opened the gap it was Clontarf's second of three sin-binnings, when David O'Brien was yellow-carded (opposing back-rowers David Quinlan and Bobby Baggott had gone before, Sheahan did so in injury time) for deliberate offside after 59 minutes which irrevocably changed the game.
Centre Mossie Lawlor scored a superb solo try, quickly followed by a similar effort from John Lacey, and not long after O'Brien's return, replacement Peter Stringer also scored opportunistically to register his first AIL try for Shannon and ensure a bonus point. From 13-8 to 34-8 in 18 minutes; just like that. Thompson converted the lot, as well as a subsequent effort from Marcus Horan, before debutante out-half replacement David Delaney converted Shannon's sixth try in injury time through Jason Hayes' for a somewhat flattering winning margin.
Prior to the New year's Eve journey home, Alex Wyllie bemoaned the "lack of discipline and yellow cards" which had cost his team dearly but acknowledged Clontarf had played "one of the best sides in the league."
His Shannon counterpart Conor McDermott gave credit to Clontarf's resilience and admitted much of the hard work and groundwork had been done against the elements. Whilst bidding adieu to his contracted players, nonetheless the Shannon coach vowed to have the non-contracted players back together a week hence, hoping to fit in some friendlies in readiness for the resumption of the league and the February 11th summit meeting at home to Cork Constitution.
In the only other first division tie of the weekend, Constitution extended their unbeaten home record to almost two years, dating back to the February 1998 23-15 defeat by Garryowen, when recording a 15th successive win at Temple Hill by 24-17 against Lansdowne on Saturday.
Though their pitch also held up well, the game was played under an increasing blanket of fog. Constitution initially threatened to register a fourth bonus point in five games when romping into an 18-3 lead, largely orchestrated by the outstanding Ronan O'Gara, who augmented Ken Murphy's try with a delightful dancing, sidestepping effort of his own as well as two penalties and a conversion from his trusty boot.
However, Lansdowne came storming back through the hard yards of Colin McEntee and a couple of tries from the talented Aidan McCullan; an O'Gara penalty and drop goal just about keeping Con afloat. Their unfriendly festive fixture list having sent them to Dungannon and Cork in turn, and having missed out on a bonus point by a point a week before, the least an understrength Lansdowne deserved for their travels and troubles was Saturday's bonus point which pushed them into fifth place. Nonetheless, the unbeaten leading quartet of Constitution, Shannon, Ballymena and Galwegians have now opened up a five-point gap.
The only unbeaten record in Division Two went by the board when leaders Old Belvedere lost 15-13 away to Carlow on Saturday. A well-taken try by centre Ray Monaghan helped Belvedere into a 13-6 interval lead but ultimately Carlow's increasing pressure was rewarded with five decisive penalties from full-back Matt Waterhouse. The win maintained the upwardly mobile Carlowmen's unbeaten home record and elevated them into second place.
Bective Rangers stayed on their heels when jumping from sixth to third after recovering from a 1611 half-time deficit away to Dolphin in the only other AIL game played over the weekend. The interval introduction of veteran scrum-half Des Jackson proved the catalyst, as tries by Kelvin McNamee and Robbie Milliken augmented a first-half effort by flanker Paul O'Connor, summer recruit Fergal Campion taking his haul to 68 points in five games with another 13 points.
