Clontarf go third with win over Lansdowne
Rugby
Clontarf 12
Lansdowne 3
Division 1A
Daire Walsh
Castle Avenue
Holders Clontarf moved up to third in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League last night, following their hard-earned 12-3 win over Lansdowne at Castle Avenue.
Thanks to three penalties from reliable out-half David Joyce, ‘Tarf created daylight between themselves and Lansdowne in the opening period.
The visitors had lock Josh O’Rourke sin-binned in the 28th-minute, but courtesy of a subsequent place-kick by former Munster star Scott Deasy, they reduced their deficit to six points (9-3) by the interval. ’Tarf extended cushion with another Joyce three-pointer after the restart. Lansdowne started with a seven-point lead at the summit of the top-tier table, but after Deasy was off-target from a stoppage-time penalty, they came away empty-handed.
Scorers for Clontarf: D Joyce 4 pens.
Scorers for Lansdowne: S Deasy pen.
CLONTARF: J Power; R Keogh, M Brown, M Darcy, M McGrath; D Joyce, S Cronin; V Abdaladze, J Harris-Wright, R Burke-Flynn; B Reilly, J Doyle; T Ryan, K Moran, M Noone.
Replacements: J Larbey, N Reilly, I Soroka, M Sutton, S Long.
LANSDOWNE: E Mills; D McEvoy, J O’Donnell, M Roche, M O’Keeffe; S Deasy, M D’Arcy; J Walshe, J Rael, I Prendiville; J O’Rourke, S Gardiner; J McSwiney, C Butterworth, W Earle.
Replacements: T Moran, G McGrath, P Donnellan, A Bennie, C McMickan.
Referee: G Conway (IRFU).