Referee: Max Weston
You can view the match photos HERE

Lansdowne went into the international break in the best possible mood on Saturday. They came from 21-9 down early in the second half to beat Clontarf 37-21, scoring 28 unanswered points and four tries to take a bonus-point win in one of the league's oldest rivalries.

Ciaran Mangan scored two of the tries and John Forde and Hubert Gilvarry got the others. Charlie Tector, back in the 10 jersey after playing most of his recent rugby for Leinster at centre, kicked seven from seven for 17 points.

It was a result that needed to happen. Clontarf have had the better of this fixture in recent seasons, winning five of the seven meetings since 2023, and they arrived at Lansdowne Road third in the table. A big crowd filled the terrace and stood three or four deep along the touchline. A strong northside contingent had made the short trip across the Liffey, but by the final whistle it was the Lansdowne supporters that were making the noise.

The maul is one of Clontarf’s biggest strengths, and Lansdowne’s first defensive set sent a clear message. The visitors' first drive was stopped and turned over, with Peter Dooley and Barry Fitzpatrick at the heart of it. Todd Lawlor, fresh from his Leinster debut, gave an early glimpse of what was to come with a powerful carry out of defence. In the early exchanges, though, Lansdowne were a little frantic with the ball. A forward pass and a few loose offloads meant they couldn't build any phases.

Tector opened the scoring with a penalty on 13 minutes. Moments later his fine kick found touch eight metres out, but Brian Deeny pinched the throw. On a later visit the ball squirted out of the back of the Lansdowne maul and Dylan Donnellan turned it over. In between, Daniel Hurley took a superb catch under a high box kick and was rewarded with a penalty, even though he took an accidental blow to the face in the process.

Clontarf needed only one visit to the Lansdowne 22 to score. After a lineout in the corner they built patiently through the forwards, and young tighthead Harry Goslin, only just out of school, forced his way over on 27 minutes. Conor Kelly converted. Tector replied almost straight away to make it 7-6, but a lapse in the back field let Clontarf in again. After a kick through and a desperate goal-line scramble, in which Lansdowne held them up once, Donnellan was credited with the try. Kelly's conversion made it 14-6.

Tector kept Lansdowne in touch with a third penalty on the stroke of half-time after Goslin was penalised at the scrum. Lansdowne then had one last chance from a lineout ten metres out, but it came to nothing and the sides went in at 14-9. Clontarf had turned two visits to the 22 into two tries, while Lansdowne had more of the ball and had given too much of it away cheaply.

 

The start of the second half could hardly have been worse. Connor Fahy read a Lansdowne attack perfectly, stepped off the line and intercepted, then ran in under the posts on 43 minutes. Kelly's conversion made it 21-9.

The reply came within a minute, and it said a lot about this side. Clontarf made a mess of the restart, Juan Beukes made a big line break before he was stopped by the Clontarf full-back, and when the ball bobbled loose from Wilhelm de Klerk it fell into Mangan's hands for the try. Tector converted for 21-16.

This was when the game turned. Clontarf twice had five-metre lineouts, the platform they have built their reputation on, and twice Lansdowne kept them out. The first maul ended with a knock-on. On the second, Bobby Sheehan and Max Deegan got underneath the drive and won the ball back. The crowd behind the posts greeted each stop as if it were a try, and from then on it was Lansdowne's game. Matt Healy went off with an ankle injury and Hardus van Eeden came on, while Sean Dunne, Michael Moloney, Evann Shelley and Tom Barry all came off the bench and made a real difference.

The equaliser on 63 minutes was a try to remember. Lansdowne moved the ball from deep, Lawlor tore through the middle with a superb run, and Forde, the summer arrival from Blackrock, finished it off. Tector's conversion put Lansdowne ahead at 23-21, their first lead since the opening quarter.

Clontarf nearly hit straight back, picking off a pass after Lawlor and Mangan had broken clear, and their scramble defence then held out a Lansdowne attack close to the line. But they could not get out of their own half. On 74 minutes a well-worked scrum move sent Mangan through the gap between the winger and the flanker, and he raced in for his second. Tector converted to make it a two-score game at 30-21.

Two minutes later the bonus point was secured. Lansdowne's line speed forced a high, hurried pass on the edge, Moloney intercepted, and Gilvarry, one of the quickest men in the league, finished it off. Tector's seventh successful kick of the afternoon made it 37-21. Tom Roche came on for the final minutes and Hurley moved to centre. Clontarf threw everything at the Lansdowne line, but the defence held firm to the final whistle.

This was the most complete performance of the season so far. The first half showed again how ruthless Clontarf can be in the red zone, and Lansdowne will want to tidy up the errors that kept them from building pressure in the opposition 40. But the way they stopped Clontarf's maul, and the attacking rugby they played once they got on top, gives plenty of reason for optimism.

Tector controlled the game and could not miss off the tee. Lawlor was a threat every time he had the ball, and Mangan, in his first season at the club, took his two tries superbly. Up front, Beukes, Forde, Deegan and Sheehan were outstanding, and the bench, in the words of the stream commentary, changed the course of the game.

The league now breaks for the November internationals, and Lansdowne go into it with momentum at last.

 

The day had already started well. In the 11:30 curtain-raiser at Lansdowne Road, the J1 side beat their Clontarf counterparts 68-31.

It was great to see two familiar faces back in the jersey. Jack Cooke, 1st XV captain two seasons ago, started in the second row as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Andy Marks, who captained the 1st XV last season and is also coming back from injury, lined out at outside centre. Both will have enjoyed getting minutes under their belts, and both will be pushing for senior places in the weeks ahead.

Also togged out was Adam 'Teddy' Boland, now scrum coach with the 1st XV, and he didn't just make up the numbers: he came off the bench and helped himself to a try. A score against Clontarf felt fitting, because Boland has history in this fixture. He was a replacement prop when Lansdowne beat Clontarf 18-17 in the AIL final on 9 May 2015. He was also a key part of the pack in 2017/18, when Lansdowne won the AIL, the Bateman Cup, the Leinster Senior Cup and the Leinster Senior League.

Pairing the two games made a proper day of it. Putting the J1 and senior fixtures back to back brings bigger, more engaged crowds to the club, and Saturday proved the point. Supporters came early for the J1s and were still there, in full voice, when the 1st XV ran out in the afternoon. It is a format worth repeating.

Lansdowne: 15 Todd Lawlor; 14 Hubert Gilvarry, 13 Ciaran Mangan, 12 Wilhelm de Klerk, 11 Daniel Hurley; 10 Charlie Tector, 9 Cormac Foley; 1 Peter Dooley, 2 Bobby Sheehan (capt), 3 George Morris, 4 John Forde, 5 Juan Beukes, 6 Matt Healy, 7 Barry Fitzpatrick, 8 Max Deegan. 

Replacements: 16 Tom Barry, 17 Sean Dunne, 18 Evann Shelley, 19 Hardus van Eeden, 20 Michael Moloney, 21 Tom Roche.

Clontarf: 15 Noah Sheridan; 14 Daniel Magner, 13 Connor Fahy, 12 Daniel Hawkshaw, 11 Alex O'Grady; 10 Conor Kelly (capt), 9 Sean Finlay; 1 Charlie Ward, 2 Dylan Donnellan, 3 Harry Goslin, 4 Brian Deeny, 5 Alan Spicer, 6 Alex Soroka, 7 Oisin McCormack, 8 Jackson Bevin. 

Replacements: 16 Paul Deeny, 17 Ben Griffin, 18 Fionn Gilbert, 19 Sean Lavin, 20 Mark O'Sullivan, 21 Barry Gray.

Lansdowne: Tries: C Mangan (44', 74'), J Forde (63'), H Gilvarry (76'). Cons: C Tector (45', 63', 74', 76'). Pens: C Tector (13', 29', 40'). 

Clontarf: Tries: H Goslin (27'), D Donnellan (37'), C Fahy (43'). Cons: C Kelly (28', 37', 43').

Lansdowne J1 v Clontarf (Lansdowne 68 Clontarf 31): 15 Cathal Eddy; 14 Toby Ennis, 13 Andy Marks, 12 Ross McCrea, 11 Mark McGlynn; 10 Patrick Hartley, 9 Oisín Devitt; 1 Oscar Stevenson, 2 Hugh Greany, 3 Ronan Shaw, 4 Jack Cooke, 5 Jack Coolican, 6 Mossie Bruton, 7 Robert Kidney, 8 Donough Lawlor. Replacements: 16 Rik Van Dijk, 17 Adam Boland, 18 Oscar O'Brien, 19 Mike Joyce, 20 James Kenny, 21 Ben Twomey, 22 Max McKenna.

MATCH REPORT & PHOTOS MICHAEL O'BRIEN