McGrath brace seals Clontarf victory
CLONTARF…………………………………… 20
OLD BELVEDERE…………………………….. 14
Daire Walsh
A brace of superb tries from Rob McGrath proved decisive at Castle Avenue last night, as Clontarf secured their second league victory of the season against 14-man Old Belvedere.
McGrath broke the deadlock with a breakaway try on 12 minutes, and even though Shane McDonald eventually opened the Belvo account with a 27th minute penalty, the visitors suffered a major set-back when Karl Miller was shown a red-card for dangerous play five minutes prior to the interval.
A six-point McDonald salvo kept Belvo within touching distance during his absence, but following Joey Carbery’s second penalty of the night, McGrath’s 68th minute try created significant daylight.
Rory O’Loughlin crossed the whitewash for Belvo on the stroke of 80 minutes, but they had to be content with a losing bonus point.
Scorers for Clontarf: R McGrath 2 tries, J Carberry 2 pens, 2 cons.
Scorers for Old Belvedere: R O’Loughlin try, S McDonald 3 pens.
CLONTARF: R Keogh; R McGrath, M Brown, E Ryan, M McGrath; J Carberry, D O’Meara; I Soroka, T Considine, I Hirst; T Byrne, B Reilly; K Moran, A D’Arcy, T Ryan.
Replacements: D Moore for Hirst (26-36), M D’Arcy for E Ryan (h-t), B Keelan for Considine (47), S Cronin for O’Meara (55), L Og Murphy for Moran (70), Moore for Murphy (73).
OLD BELVEDERE: D Riordan; S McDonald, J Kennedy, S Crosbie, R O’Loughlin; W Staunton, A Sheehan; A Howard, E Rossiter, D Lavery; C Owende, J Kelly; K Miller, M Oyuga, J Slattery.
Replacements: C O’Flynn for Rossiter, M Ludwig for Owende (both 69).