Clontarf 31
Tallaght 2nds 39
Try: Leön Tanfin 2, Rob Hudson, Kevin Quinn, David Clarke, Niall Mahon
Con: Rob Hudson 3
Pen: Rob Hudson
Metro League Division 9
Castle Avenue
30/10/2021
The Tallaght men’s second team took on Clontarf in the Metro League Division 9 on a sunny but chilly late October afternoon that was perfect for running rugby.
Tallaght scored the first try after only three minutes when right winger Leön Tanfin shot up out of the defensive line to intercept the ball and race away for his first try for the club. Rob Hudson converted to make it 7-0 to Tallaght.
The hugely experienced Clontarf side hit back well though and they put Tallaght under pressure. They scored two tries in either corner, converting one of them to take a 12-7 lead. However Tallaght hit back well with Jordan Coghlan and Dave Kelly making strong carries to get them into the Clontarf twenty two. Then out-half David Clarke sent a perfect skip pass out to Leön Tanfin to score his second try of the match and tie the game at twelve points all.
Clontarf hit back again and centre Simon Collie, making his first Tallaght appearance since a lengthy sabbatical in his native Australia, make a couple of crucial tackles to save Tallaght’s bacon. However Clontarf showed great hands to score another fine try in the corner. Rob Hudson responded with a penalty kick to make the half-time score 17-15 to Clontarf.
Tallaght started the second half strongly and Rob Hudson sniped through a gap to score a fine try to make it 22-17 to Tallaght. Clontarf responded strongly yet again though scoring a fourth try and adding the conversion to make it 24-22 to the home team.
But Tallaght didn’t panic and superb tactical kicking from Hudson and Clarke kept putting them deep into the Clontarf half. Eventually the pressure told and Hudson made another superb break and he offloaded to skipper Kevin Quinn who broke a couple of tackles to get over for this first try of the season to make it 27-24 to Tallaght.
Clontarf were visibly starting to tire and Tallaght’s fitness work started to pay off as they dominated the final quarter. The Clontarf lineout was also crumbling under pressure from Tallaght second rows Patrik Toth and Graham O’Brien. From a scrum just outside the Clontarf twenty two, Quinn and Hudson combined superbly to put fly-half David Clarke away for a try to make it 32-24 to Tallaght.
Tallaght were now in the ascendancy and substitute winger Niall Mahon cut back against the drift to score an excellent try to put the result beyond doubt. Rob Hudson converted to bring his final personal points total to 14 on the day. Clontarf had the final say with a converted try in the last play of the game to make the final score 39-31 to Tallaght.
After the match Clontarf put a pint behind the bar for each member of the Tallaght team post-match which was a touch of class and was greatly appreciated.
It was a brilliantly entertaining game played in a great spirit by both teams and was also very well refereed. Hopefully both the men’s firsts and seconds teams can take the positivity of this result into training next week to really kick-start both their seasons.
Man of the match: Leön Tanfin
Tallaght RFC
1. Dave Kelly
2. Gary Kinsella
3. Kevin Quinn (Captain)
4. Patrik Toth
5. Graham O’Brien
6. Jordan Corrigan
7. John Cowan
8. Colin Morrison
9. Rob Hudson
10. David Clarke
11. Michael Corrigan
12. Gavin McKeon
13. Simon Collie
14. Leön Tanfin
15. Wayne Stewart
16. Niall Mahon
17. Shane Maguire
Report: Jim O’Connor
Photo: Anne Kavanagh
There’s a double-header of men’s rugby this weekend.
On Friday night, the Tallaght men’s seconds team take on Malahide away in Metro League Division 9. Kick-off is at 8PM at Estuary Road.
Then on Sunday the men’s first team resume their Leinster League Division 3 campaign. They host Clane at Tymon Park with a 2.30PM kick-off.
Please make your best effort to come out and support all our teams.