Riordan pounces to punish Clontarf

Clontarf 17 Old Belvedere 20

Clontarf’s hopes of retaining their Ulster Bank League crown took a further dent last night as Danny Riordan’s late drop goal gave Old Belvedere a 20-17 comeback win.

After an error-ridden first half, during which Josh Glynn and Alan Hughes scored a penalty apiece, Clontarf seemed to have the game in their grasp when converted tries from Ariel Robles and Matt D’Arcy pushed them 17-3 clear.

Winger Robles finished off some fine work from replacement Mark Sutton, while shortly afterwards out-half D’Arcy supplied the finishing touches to a neat blindside break.

However, Old Belvedere, who were held to a draw by Dolphin last week, found an extra gear to work Charlie Rock and Adam Howard over for tries. Josh Glynn’s second successful conversion tied things up before full-back Riordan — the reigning Division 1A Player of the Year — stepped forward to condemn ’Tarf to their third defeat in six games.

Scorers: Clontarf: Tries: Ariel Robles, Matt D’Arcy; Cons: Alan Hughes 2; Pen: Alan Hughes

Old Belvedere: Tries: Charlie Rock, Adam Howard; Cons: Josh Glynn 2; Pen: Josh Glynn; Drop: Daniel Riordan

CLONTARF: A Hughes; J Hawkshaw, M Brown, E Ryan, A Robles; M D’Arcy, S Cronin (capt); I Soroka, T Considine, R Burke-Flynn, M Garvey, C O’Keeffe, L Óg Murphy, A D’Arcy, T Ryan.

Replacements: C Culleton, K Morgan, I Hirst, P du Toit, M Sutton.

OLD BELVEDERE: D Riordan; J Glynn, R O’Loughlin, P Robb, S McDonald; S Crosbie, C Rock; P O’Regan, C O’Flynn, D Lavery, J Kelly, C Owende, M Oyuga, K O’Gorman, J Slattery (capt).

Replacements: K O’Neill, A Howard, A Trenier, J Kennedy, A Wynne.

Referee: Stuart Gaffikin (IRFU).