The disparity on the scoreboard reflected the gulf between two depleted teams on the evidence of yesterday's Kitty O'Shea Leinster Championship Final at Donnybrook. Lansdowne tagged on 13 points in the last six minutes of the contest: prior to that Clontarf had clawed themselves back from a 203 deficit to within seven points.
A combination of Lansdowne's ambivalence following an excellent opening 40 minutes, and Clontarf's tenacity allowed the losers to harbour distant hopes. The second half was a drab, error ridden affair with both sides contributing with a plethora of mistakes.
Out-half Richard Murphy finally pushed Clontarf to within seven points with as many minutes remaining but this simply shook Lansdowne from their torpor. Barry Everitt posted two penalties in quick succession and centre Ray Niland crossed for a try under the posts in injury time. Everitt added the extra points.
It offered a final reminder of the quality of fare Lansdowne produced in the opening half in which they scored three tries, two from centre Andrew O'Neill and the other from tighthead prop Enda Bohan. Clever angles, good continuity, intelligent support play and some fine individual performances from Reggie Corrigan, Cormac Egan, Aidan McCullen, Niland and Gordon D'Arcy allowed Lansdowne to ease 17 points clear by the 29th minute.
Murphy and Everitt exchanged early penalties before a fine Niland break provided O'Neill with a simple try. Everitt failed to improve upon this and a similar fate would befall him when O'Neill scored a second try following a powerful surge and excellent pass from Corrigan. The prop was again involved in the third try, this time setting up the initial ruck from which Egan wriggled clear and raced into the 22. Egan drew the full back and the supporting Bohan cantered over. Everitt converted.
Quick thinking and solid execution provided the excellent David Moore with a try from a tap penalty move one minute before the interval. Murphy kicked a fine conversion from close to the touchline.
Scoring sequence - 8 mins; Everitt penalty, 3-0; 13: Murphy penalty, 3-3; 17: O'Neill try, 8-3; 21: O'Neill try, 13-3; 29: Bohan try, Everitt conversion, 20-3; 39: Moore try, Murphy conversion 20-10. Half-time: 20-10. 73: Murphy penalty, 20-13; 75: Everitt penalty, 23-13; 80: Everitt penalty, 26-13; 82: Niland try, Everitt conversion, 33-13.
LANSDOWNE: G D'Arcy; M Dillon, A O'Neill, R Niland, W Clancy; B Everitt, D O'Mahony (capt); R Corrigan, C Egan, E Bohan; S O'Connor, B Cusack; A McCullen, C McEntee, P Mandell. Replacements: G Fulcher for O'Connor (71 mins); R Dolan for Clancy (74).
CLONTARF: D Rossi; R Casey, C Bewley, D McElligott, O Winchester; R Murphy, S Forster; J Maher, I Synnott, T Kearns; D Moore, C Power; J Ball, C Brownlie (capt), D Egan. Replacements: A Reddan for Casey (26 mins); C Brady for Ball (50); B Jackman for Egan (55); C McDonald for Maher (76).
Referee: D Woods (Leinster).
