Sacked by London-Irish only a couple of weeks ago, the former Irish international forward has returned to his roots at Stevenson Park, Dungannon, to resurrect the team's chances of staying in the premier division of the All Ireland league and the destruction of Clontarf was the perfect start.

Clontarf had the considerable tonic of a fifth minute try from Mark Woods Barry, which he himself converted, but when Paul Curry and Roger Cowan charged in for Dungannon tries, the scales tipped firmly in favour of the home team, which took a 22-12 lead into the break.

And as the visitors wilted in the face of home pressure, Ronnie Carey and Robin Morrow powered in for further tries, with Blair providing a penalty that helped take Dungannon into a 3712 lead, a margin made even more unassailable by late tries from Gary Leslie and Morrow.

Scoring sequence: 5 mins M Woods try, con 0-7; 14: A Blair pen 3-7; 22: P Curry try 8-7; 27: R Cowan try, Blair con 15-7; 33: R Noble try 15-12; 37: pen try, Blair con 22-12; 47: R Carey try 27-12; 52: R Blair pen 30-12; 61: R Morrow try, Blair con 37-12; 74: G Leslie try 42-12; 77: R Morrow try 47-12.

Dungannon: R Morrow, R Carey, A Redpath, A Clarke, R Cowan, A Blair, S Bell, B Morrow, M Patton, G Leslie, C Simpson, K Walker, A Garvan, P Curry, J Hastings.

Clontarf: M Woods, R Noble, M Smith, B Barry, M Fitzsimmons, R Murphy, R O'Reilly, T Hannigan, S Horan, P McQuillan, M Coughlan, C Power, A Dignan, P Ward, C Brownlie.

Referee: B Smith, (Munster).