Clontarf surge to top of the table

A COMPREHENSIVE 43-23 away win over Sunday's Well saw Clontarf surge to the top of the table as both Dolphin and Bective suffered surprise defeats at the hands of Monkstown and City of Derry respectively.

A penalty in the very first minute from out half Mark Woods set the tone at Musgrave Park, as Clontarf proceeded to take control of the match. Three tries from Bernard Jackson, Peter McQuillan, and Nicky Barry and two more penalties from Woods left the visitors leading 28-3 at half time.

A try by Declan Coppinger at the start of the second hall, converted by Conor Burke, who then added his second penalty, gave "the Well" some hope of mounting a fightback. But a fourth Clontarf try from David Moore meant the match was over as a contest long before the final whistle.

With crunch matches coming up against Dolphin and Bective in the next two weeks, Clontarf's return to try scoring form couldn't have come at a better time.

Dolphin on the other hand had a forgettable weekend, losing out 16-8 to a revitalised Monkstown at Sydney Parade. Two penalties from out half Shane O'Meara gave the home side a 6-0 lead at the interval.

An intercept try from captain and scrum half Conor Heaney at the start of the second half stretched the home side's lead further and when Neil Ryan rounded off a fine passing move with a try at the end of the third quarter there was no way back for Dolphin.

If Dolphin's weekend was forgettable, nightmarish would perhaps be a more suitable term for Bective, who suffered an 11-6 home defeat at the hands of City of Derry.

The decisive score came six minutes before half time when the very impressive Liam McGettigan set off on a great run from his own 22 right up to the Bective 22.

The big second row swept past and through any number of tackles before feeding the ball out to left wing Tommy McBride, who dived over in the coiner, to give the visitors an 8-3 lead.

A penalty from Ian McGregor on the hour stretched Derry's lead further, and though Ben Kealy added a penalty for Bective eight minutes later, the home side could not find a way past Derry's well organised defence.

Skerries' fine record at Holmpatrick came under threat again at the weekend, but although they left it late, the north Dublin club emerged 19-15 winners over Greystones thanks to a late try from David O'Sullivan.

Four penalties from Greystones out-half Alan Keyes gave the visitors a 12-8 lead at the end of a bruising first hall, that saw Skerries second row Tony Giles and prop Liam Murphy sent off.

Skerries twice cut Greystones lead to the minimum in the second hall, but with eight minutes remaining they finally grabbed the lead when O'Sullivan ran in for his second try.

UCC's Conor O'Mahony made up for some earlier misses by converting a last minute penalty that gave the students a 14-12 win over DLSP at The Mardyke.

A hat-trick of tries in the second half from winger Scott Carroll put Malone on the road to a comfortable 32-10 win over NIFC in the Belfast derby at Ormeau.

Level 15-15 with Wanderers with 15 minutes remaining, Highfield yet again managed to a victory for the visitors at Model Farm Road.