THESE are heady days in the capital. Four rounds of bruising battle are just a memory and four of the top six teams in Division One of the Insurance Corporation League are Dublin clubs. Does this reflect a shift away from Limerick dominance, or is it merely a temporary hitch before power is restored to the affected area? That remains to be seen.

One thing is certain, the six Dublin clubs realise the necessity of garnering as many points from their neighbours as possible, before undertaking the treacherous trips south to the graveyards of Shannonside. Thus, this clash at Lakelands Park turned into a dog fight, with Terenure taking a pounding for much of the eighty minutes.

In a game that kept referee Brian Sterling's whistle in his mouth due to the stream of infringements and constant breakdowns in play, two players - one on either side - rose above the mediocrity. For Old Belvedere, Neil Francis was anything but out of touch at the lineout. His ambling presence around the field was more than made up for by a magnetic aerial performance from hooker Paddy Kenny's pinpoint throw ins.

Ciaran Clarke was Terenure's finest weapon. His tremendous form this season has been typified by his defence splitting surges through the opposition midfield. Saturday was no exception and it was one such burst that turned the game in Terenure's favour with Just seven minutes left to play.

Up until then, Belvedere had led all the way. Two Barry Murphy penalties were the only points accrued in the first half. This did not look nearly enough for the visitors who huffed and puffed their way forward with a gusting wind at their backs.

The Belvedere back row of Peter O'Malley, Brendan Kavanagh and David Moriarty sealed off the corridors of escape, as Terenure were held back against their will. For all this, Belvedere showed little ingenuity in their attempts to break down James Blaney's men.

After the break, Terenure followed this bad example. Everything they did seemed more in haste than at controlled pace. A Peter Walsh penalty was made redundant when Belvedere's Fergal O'Beirne scooped up a loose ball that spilled from a Terenure lineout five metres out. With his pack swarming around him O'Beirne was eventually bundled over the line. Scrum half Murphy was wide from the conversion and in the final analysis this was fatal. Then again, so were the four penalties he missed, although Terenure's Walsh failed to find the target on so many occasions.

Walsh's second penalty brought Terenure within a converted try. And it was Clarke who provided the killer touch when Niall Hogan opted to spread a tap penalty wide for replacement Paul Hennebery to put Clarke through a gap in the Belvedere defence.