Dublin Go Ahead Adult Football League – Division 1 - North:
Round 3: St. Maurs v Cluain Tarbh. 7th July 2021
Clontarf Senior Men’s Footballers travelled to north county Dublin in search of a first league win on Wednesday night, with St. Maurs the opposition in round 3 of the league.
The home team settled into their stride first with two scores from forward ‘marks’ by last year’s Dublin U20 scoring sensation, Ciaran Archer. After a couple of unsuccessful early attempts, Clontarf responded with a point from Charlie Meehan. St. Maurs then scored a point from their 10, and Clontarf hit a reply from Nathan Doran. Another St. Maurs point from their number 9, and then a free by Nathan after he was taken down on a typical strong run at the opposition defence. A fairly even first quarter ended with the home team ahead by the minimum.
0-4 to 0-3 at the first water break.
St. Maurs pushed ahead in the second quarter with points from Archer either side of two great efforts from their 15 and 10. Meanwhile Clontarf’s pacey counterattacking game and good forward movement were starting to make an impact. A purposeful run from full back by Conor Doran led to Andy Foley kicking an assured point. Kieran McKeon was causing all sorts of problems for his marker, and made two great catches in a row. The first resulted in a wide from play when a mark might have been a better option with the benefit of hindsight. Next ball in, and another great catch from Kieran, and this time he took his mark, making no mistake with it to claim the last score of an evenly contested first half.
Half time: 0-7 to 0-5.
Happily for the away supporters, the second half was much more one sided, as Clontarf produced their best half of football of the league so far. The St. Maurs defence struggled during a 15 minute purple patch from the team in the red. Five unanswered points demonstrating several textbook ways to work scores. Firstly a swift passing move involving Nathan Doran and Rory Clarke was finished off by a point from Charlie. This was followed by ‘keep ball’ as Clontarf worked over and back across the field in search of an opening. Eventually Matthew McMahon threaded a super pass to Nathan who ran strongly at the defence and drew a foul which he converted. Next Foley made a typical dominant catch from a Clontarf kick out, and laid the ball off to Jack McCaffrey. Jack, travelling at speed, cut through the defence, was fouled, but still kept going to chip over the bar. He was back in position for the subsequent St. Maurs play, making an interception which led to another point from Charlie. Then yet another Foley fetch in the middle started another patient build up, and eventually a second point from Kieran. At this stage, a rampant Clontarf attack was starting to enjoy themselves. At the same time, an aggressive Clontarf defence gave the home team no easy changes, with the collective effort typified by one great hassle and dispossession by Mark Winters.
This all left Maitias McDonncha, wearing an unfamiliar No.1 shirt, with much to admire in front of him, and little to do around him. His kick outs were excellent, and maybe his shot stopping ability was equally excellent, but we’ll never know because his defensive colleagues didn’t allow any opportunities for St. Maurs to test him out.
0-8 to 0-10 at the second water break.
The dominant Clontarf performance continued through the fourth quarter. The lightning pace of Shane Walsh from corner back, and the smart running of Stephen O’Quigley from wing back, were causing particular trouble for the home defence. One such break provided Kieran McKeon with a successful scoring opportunity. Then Stephen made a great catch and run forward to feed the ball to Niall McCaffery who was fouled and Nathan scored the resultant free. Another attack moved the ball quickly to Charlie who ran at the defence and kicked over. Next an impressive build up, with Stephen again to the fore, ended with Foley floating over a great point. The final Clontarf score came in injury time, and it was another Nathan free as the home defence became increasingly frustrated. St. Maurs, living on scraps, could only register three points during the half, and were probably relieved to hear the final whistle.
Full time score: St Maurs 0-10 Clontarf 0-16.
A welcome first win and definite signs of progress for this Clontarf team, who will need to maintain the upward curve for a tough away encounter in a couple of days time against unbeaten Naomh Mearnóg on Saturday 10th July at 6.30pm.
Clontarf Team: Maitias McDonncha, Ciaran Kyne, Conor Doran, Shane Walsh, Mark Winters, Jack McCaffrey(0-1), Stephen O’Quigley, Andy Foley (0-2), Dave Egan, Patrick Mohan, Charlie Meehan (0-4), Sean Prendergast, Kieran McKeown (0-3, 1M), Nathan Doran (0-6, 3F), Rory Clarke. Subs: Matthew McMahon, Niall McCaffery, Craig McConnell.
