Photo © Clontarf Rugby

In their first competitive outing in almost a year and a half, a nascent J1 team put in a spirited performance away to a strong Clontarf side.

With new Head Coach Phil Donnellan at the helm, the J1’s started brightly and quickly established field position deep in enemy territory. This resulted in an early shot at goal, which was expertly dispatched by outhalf Stephen Madigan. Unfortunately this preempted a period of dominance by Clontarf for the remainder of the half.

A productive halftime discussion resulted in the J1s opening the second stanza with a renewed vigour. Central to this effort was barnstorming no8 Daneele Ellis, who carried aggressively in the loose and executed a number of solid tackles on defence. He was ably supported by openside flanker Michael O’Brien who personified perpetual motion, with a series of tackles, carries and poaches. Furthermore, our 10/12 combination of brothers Rory & Stephen Madigan produced a series of textbook chop tackles to stifle opposition momentum. They also utilised smart running lines to puncture a number of holes in the opposition defense. These performances were underpinned by a solid J1 scrum that had the Clontarf 8 under pressure on both sides of the ball.

With plenty of learnings to take away from this game, the J1s will no doubt be back stronger for the Metro 1 league which starts at the end of September. Best of luck to all involved.

Final Score 37-10

Match Report – Charlie Doel