Clontarf Show Defensive Steel To Reach #EnergiaAIL Decider

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE MEN’S DIVISION 1A SEMI-FINAL:

Saturday, April 19 –

CLONTARF 17 LANSDOWNE 15, Castle Avenue
Scorers: Clontarf: Tries: Sam Owens, Ben Griffin; Cons: Conor Kelly 2; Pen: Conor Kelly
Lansdowne: Tries: Ruairi Clarke, Charlie Tector; Con: Charlie Tector; Pen: Charlie Tector
HT: Clontarf 17 Lansdowne 15

Tickets for the final at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, April 27 (kick-off 4pm) – the second ever #EnergiaAIL Men’s and Women’s finals double header – are on sale now from Ticketmaster – buy here.

Next Sunday’s Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A final at the Aviva Stadium will be another Leinster-Munster affair, as 2022 champions Clontarf renew rivalries with Cork Constitution, last year’s winners.

Table toppers this season, Clontarf twice came from behind during the first half, with Ruairi Clarke and Leinster’s Charlie Tector, who ran in a well-taken intercept effort, both touching down for Lansdowne.

The headquarters club, who had lost at the semi-final stage to ‘Tarf in 2019, and Terenure College in both 2022 and 2024, led 15-10 at one stage with Tector firing over a penalty past the half-hour mark.

However, Griffin, who had earlier set up a seven-pointer for Sam Owens, scored off a lineout maul. Conor Kelly’s conversion made it 17-15 to ‘Tarf, and they held onto that narrow lead despite Callum Smith’s sin-binning during the third quarter.

There was a quick pace to the game right from the off. Cillian Redmond ran back a kick, bumping off Hugh Cooney, before Stephen Madigan’s deft chip kick saw Clontarf full-back Tadhg Bird use his quick feet to counter impressively.

It was Lansdowne who hit the front in the fourth minute, their pacy back-three engineering a superb break from deep. Possession was retained before Madigan hung a cross-field kick out to the right where Clarke finished off with aplomb. Tector slid the conversion wide.

Smith’s lineout steal prevented Lansdowne from building for a second score, while the wily Rob Hedderman, a league winner with Cork Constitution last season, was standing out for his ability to make ground down the left wing.

The kicking battle ebbed and flowed, with Clontarf scrum half Owens making his box-kicks contestable and finding one clever touch. The hosts were craving a line break and it came just past the midpoint of the half.

It was big prop Griffin who carved open the defensive line from a Kelly pass. He charged through the middle and expertly pulled the trigger with a perfectly-timed pass on the edge of Lansdowne’s 22, sending Owens darting over for Kelly to convert.

As the visitors sought a swift response, Aaron Coleman dug in to win a turnover penalty in defence. The lineout was hotly contested throughout, with both teams having to work hard to retain possession in the air.

Just when Andy Wood’s men were looking to prosper from a penalty and a lineout, Tector rushed up to pick off Kelly’s pass and he had the speed to score from just inside the Lansdowne half. The Wexford native converted his own try to make it 12-7.

The sides traded penalties approaching the interval, with ‘Tarf captain Dylan Donnellan prominent during a pacy attack before Kelly fired over a place-kick from inside the 22. Tector replied, rewarding his forwards for some well-constructed phases.

It could have been even better for Lansdowne had a Redmond pass not drifted forward with ‘Tarf caught for numbers out wide. The home side produced a sting in the tail, going to the right corner with a penalty and it was tighthead Griffin who burrowed over for Kelly to convert.

The start of the second period was nip and tuck again, the sin-binning for Smith’s foul play at a ruck giving Lansdowne a sudden numerical advantage. Clontarf’s defence stood firm twice in quick succession, with Cormac Foley’s quick tap failing to lead to a score.

Lansdowne kept the pressure on territorially, and at the breakdown, but Griffin came up with an inspirational turnover penalty close to halfway. Two further penalties had the visitors right back on their own try-line, yet they managed to survive a massive ‘Tarf onslaught.

Declan Fassbender’s charges did really well to make their tackles and keep their discipline either side of the hour mark. Kelly ended up chipping towards the whitewash, the ball going loose and Foley was there to kick clear, with Kelly then knocking on.

The Clontarf out-half made another uncharacteristic error in the 67th minute, miscuing a kick which went dead. Lansdowne’s strong bench was now in full flow. They worked some space on the right, only for Andy Marks to be called back for a forward pass from replacement Rory Parata.

Lansdowne’s radar was just slightly off during the closing stages, a crooked lineout throw robbing them of a promising position. A close scrum contest was also going Clontarf’s way, despite the introduction of Connacht prop Temi Lasisi for the visitors.

‘Tarf could not profit from another maul opportunity, though, and Lansdowne remained just a score away from a place in the final. Barry Fitzpatrick lifted them with a rallying turnover penalty, and replacement Hugo McLaughlin clawed back a lot of metres with a kick downfield.

The strength-sapping phases were taking their toll, and Clontarf were soon back defending just outside their own 22. Their back row came up trumps, Smith making an important tackle to win a scrum, before Coleman’s turnover penalty inside the dying seconds finally settled the issue.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Lansdowne try: Ruairi Clarke – 0-5; conversion: missed by Charlie Tector – 0-5; 21 mins – Clontarf try: Sam Owens – 5-5; conversion: Conor Kelly – 7-5; 34 mins – Lansdowne try: Charlie Tector – 7-10; conversion: Charlie Tector – 7-12; 38 mins – Clontarf penalty: Conor Kelly – 10-12; 40 mins – Lansdowne penalty: Charlie Tector – 10-15; 40+5 mins – Clontarf try: Ben Griffin – 15-15; conversion: Conor Kelly – 17-15; Half-time – Clontarf 17 Lansdowne 15; 49 mins – Clontarf yellow card: Callum Smith; Full-time – Clontarf 17 Lansdowne 15

CLONTARF: Tadhg Bird; Peter Maher, Hugh Cooney, Connor Fahy, Stephen Ryan; Conor Kelly, Sam Owens; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan (capt), Ben Griffin, Fionn Gilbert, Jim Peters, Callum Smith, Aaron Coleman, John Vinson.

Replacements: Declan Adamson, Charlie Ward, Luke Brady, Will Reilly, Noah Sheridan, Mark O’Sullivan, Oran Walsh, Conor Bateman.

LANSDOWNE: Cillian Redmond; Peter Sullivan, Andy Marks, Charlie Tector, Rob Hedderman; Stephen Madigan, Cormac Foley; Jerry Cahir, Jack Treanor, Greg McGrath, Ruairi Clarke, Juan Beukes, Jack Cooke (capt), Liam Molony, Hardus van Eeden.

Replacements: Chris Poole, George Morris, Temi Lasisi, Barry Fitzpatrick, Donough Lawlor, Jack Matthews, Rory Parata, Hugo McLaughlin.

Referee: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU)