Sunday, March 22, 2009

Clontarf crowned Division Two champions

Navan 0 Clontarf 3 (Rob Abbott, Luke Hayden, Dan Tracey)
Clontarf completed the division two title with three games remaining at Sportlink on Saturday, ousting a gritty Navan 3-0. There was no repeat of the double-figure win the last time the two sides met in the league as the Bulls came up against a side determined to spoil the party.

Clontarf, though, hit the front in the first half with Rob Abbott netting a penalty stroke. It came about after Gareth Borland intercepted and his long ball found Luke Hayden. He rounded the keeper but his shot hit a foot leading to the game-breaking stroke.

Hayden added the second after the break and Dan Tracey rounded out the scoring with his second in two games since joining the club. It proved the perfect day for the club and especially Gordon Lindsay who became a father for the second time on Friday.

He adds a second triumph in division two title - the previous one won with Trinity - to the division one title he won with Three Rock in 2003.

Avoca 4 (Stephen Day, Stephen Brownlow, Will Aylmer, Fergal McGuinness) Bray 3 (Jamie Crawford, Simon Cox, David Bronner)
Avoca produced a stunning comeback in the last six minutes at Newpark to throw the whole playoff situation wide open. Trailing 3-1 going into the game's latter stages, Stephen Brownlow, Will Aylmer and Fergal McGuinness all got on the scoresheet to give not just themselves but Skerries and Trinity a shot at taking second place.

Dublin University 6 (Daire Coady, Ben Hewitt, Andrew Beverland, Haldrick Sutherland 3) Naas 0
A comfortable win, based around Haldrick Sutherland's hat-trick, sees Trinity stay in with an outside chance of taking the playoff spot - something coming all the more attractive should UCD bounce ahead of Kilkenny into ninth place in division one in the coming week. Three wins over rivals Bray, Avoca and Suttonians could see them make a late season surge.

Weston 0 Skerries 2 (S O'Connor, Ali McMahon)

Not even the return of Ronan Walsh from retirement could inspire Weston to pick up a result against Skerries as the north Dubliners get right back into the playoff mix. They now lie a point off Bray with a game in hand despite once again missing first team regulars.

Neville Davin Cup:
Clontarf's double bid remains on track after they produced a stunning second half performance against Bray to set up a final with Trinity on April 19. Tying 2-2 at the interval, four second half goals saw the Bulls sail into the decider - Luke Hayden added two to his weekend tally while Rob Abbott, Derek Ledwidge, Ciaran McNamara and Ross McMullen were also on target.

On the other side of the draw, Barry Glavey's drag and Craig Moore's strike against Weston in a 2-0 win gave them a shot at lifting the Neville Davin for the first time.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're the man Brown, you're the man!

Anonymous said...

Fair play to Clontarf, to get this far without losing a point is very impressive. Congrats to them. Good luck next year in Div 1.

Anonymous said...

well done tarf. fully deserved.
Reuben

Anonymous said...

quote from friday..

watch this space, bray will beat clontarf...

what was the score!???

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Richie and Rueben for leaving the comments congratulating us on promotion.
The race for 2nd place is wide open in div 2..Whoever gets it , i hope wins the playoff..
Abbo(clontarf hc).

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Clontarf- Great weekend of results

BROWNLOW FOR PRESIDENT

Anonymous said...

Well Done Clontarf well deserved. Very strong team and squad. Best of luck in Div 1 Next year.

Liam

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Clontarf, with the race for 2nd place wide open at thislate stage it shows that Div. 2 is becoming more and more competitive! Hopefully we'll see naas and Navan really start to contend for the top half of the table in the next few years. Navan especially could be one to watch.

Anonymous said...

congrats to clontarf, what a team all year. alot of credit has to go to harold. will cause a few upsets in div 1 next year.interesting to see who will get second

Anonymous said...

Clontarf did well to win Division 2 in the manner they did (0 losses), but they have a mountain to climb in Division 1 next season.

The biggest hurdle is how the team deals with going from winning games week in week out to losing 10-0 to the top 6 teams and having to produce sterling performances against the bottom 4 sides just to survive.

March 23, 2009 2:54 PM
"will cause a few upsets in div 1 next year"
Don't be ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

I agree they will find it tough next year, but best of luck to them. not many people gave KK a chance of staying up, hope clontarf do the same

Anonymous said...

Bray also managed to stay up againt the odd a few years back with a good solid group. If Clontarf can add to the group they already have there's no reason why the cant push for 7th or maybe higher.

Anonymous said...

ha 7th or higher get real, they lost 10-0 to a second string pembroke team

Anonymous said...

they only lost 3-2 to glenanne and drew with several other Div 1 teams this year though didnt they?

And beat Railway the day after Railway beat TRR.

It's nice to see how the Div 1 teams are welcoming Clontarf with open arms!!!!!!

Unknown said...

great for clontarf... Big commitment needed next year to stay up...

Fair play

Anonymous said...

We are welcoming clontarf with open arms! 6 points is always welcomed :)

Anonymous said...

obviously it will be a challenge for clontarf to cope with division one, but all this putting them down might give them serious underdog status and they might well pull off a few results.
they are the best equipped team to get promoted as their result for the season have showed, with a bit of strengthening to their squad there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to compete and succeed.

Anonymous said...

"We are welcoming clontarf with open arms! 6 points is always welcomed :)"

Any chance you will identify yourself and your club rather than put petty and spiteful comments up anonymously????

I'm sure it would give the Clontarf boys a bit of an added incentive when they play you next year!!!

Anonymous said...

I think it's disgraceful the treatment of Clontarf on this page!! They have deserved their place in Div 1, they have not dropped a point so far and they've beaten a Div 1 team in the cup!! There is no other teams in any other league that has not dropped a point. Railway didn't go last season undefeated and they have 14 points this year!!

Reserve your petty judgment for this time next year.

Anonymous said...

My God- Handbags!

Congrats to Clontarf, they farily cleaned up in Div 2 this year and will surely give a good account of themselves next season.

They will no doubt want to field a full strenght team next season for every game while others either cant (international players etc) or choose not to. This could also work to their advantage.

There have been a good few teams from Div 2 that have managed to stay up or been very close. Granted they will more than likely be challenging for a top 6 spot but best of luck to them.

Anonymous said...

Disgraceful treatement!?!
Handbags!?!

Nothing but a bit of realism.

1. The top 6 in Div 1 will be counting Clontarf as 6 points next season.
2. Cup results\friendlies are far different from Div 1 games.
3. The gap between bottom of Div 1 and top of Div 2 may be closing but it's still huge.

No-one is taking away from their whitewash of Div 2, just pointing out the barrell (not pinch) of salt it should be taken with.

Best of luck to them.

Anonymous said...

'Granted they will more than likely be challenging for a top 6 spot but best of luck to them.'

Meant to say more than likely not challeng for a top 6 spot

Anonymous said...

'The gap between bottom of Div 1 and top of Div 2 may be closing but it's still huge!'

Silly argument, when teams from div 2 have beaten teams from the bottom of div 1 on many occasions this year. I was talking about cup competitions and not friendlies, your point about cup being different is nonsense. How many other ways are we supposed to compare?! Kilkenny, UCD and Railway are not going to put weakened sides out for leinster senior cup matches. And again, Railway hardly ran away with Div 2 last year!!

oh, and it's nice arguing with an anonymous poster.

Derek Kirwan said...

Great result for Clontarf. Though as I am playing them this Saturday I hope they don't go through the season unbeaten.

They were by far the best team in Div 2 this year and its no surprise that they have been unbeaten (so far):-).

I don't think its fair for anyone who has not seen them play to say they will be slaughtered by the top 6 in Div 1 next year. Of the teams that have gone up from Div 2 in recent years I think they are one of the strongest and I hope that they can keep the squad that they have together and maybe add to it. That is the key for Clontarf next season IMHO.

Anonymous said...

In fainess, clontarf beat ucd on a sunday after ucd played the glens in div 1. and it was close! also ucd were without robbie macfarlane wit a broken collar bone, lynchy wit a facial injury and ro motyer. 3 of their best players.

Anonymous said...

Skerries beat Sutton last night 2-0