Castle Avenue Clontarf 27 (M Brown, M D’Arcy, R McGrath try each, D Joyce 2 pens, 3 cons) Ballynahinch 16 (J Murphy try, C Quinn 3 pens, 1 con)
MIKE Brown, Matt D’Arcy and Rob McGrath all crossed over at Castle Avenue, as reigning champions Clontarf moved up to third place in Division 1A with a confident 27-16 victory over Ballynahinch. A 5th minute try from Mike Brown, as well as five points from the boot of David Joyce, had the home team up and running, before a Chris Quinn three-pointer finally opened Hinch’s account.
‘Tarf moved further into the ascendancy with a touch down from D’Arcy, and although the Ulster men also crossed the whitewash through Jonny Murphy, a third try from Rob McGrath meant that the hosts held a commanding 24-10 lead at the interval. ‘Hinch did their best to try and salvage something from the game after the restart, but with a brace of Quinn penalties coming either side of a similar effort from Joyce, it was Clontarf who ultimately emerged victorious.