CLONTARF'S impressive record at Castle Avenue continued yesterday as they ran out deserving winners in this hard-fought encounter. Lansdowne will have been disappointed that the bonus point eluded them in the end with Darragh O'Shea's injury-time penalty putting paid to that particular aspiration.

The truth however is that Lansdowne, while putting it up to Clontarf for a long time, hadn't much to offer in the second half. Clontarf had pummelled them with short sharp bursts from the front which was always going to test Lansdowne's stamina.

And although the crowd had to wait almost the entire duration of the second half for a score it was always going to come from Clontarf.

Clontarf, who had felt a bit shortchanged from last week's encounter at Temple Hill, are not the complete article yet but up front they continue to be a very daunting prospect. The early indications were not good for Clontarf with Lansdowne the quicker to settle on what was a good day for rugby.

And following an early spell of pressure, Lansdowne were awarded a penalty from just outside the 10-metre line.

But full-back Robbie Dolan, who was in charge of kicking duties in the absence of injured out-half Mana Ashford, pulled his kick to the right of the posts.

But a loose drop out from out-half Peter O'Brien handed the initiative back to the visitors with Dolan making amends for his earlier kick when landing from a central position with six minutes gone in the game.

And with number eight Ron Boucher making some good drives through the middle, the visitors were certainly up for this game. And a commitment by Liam Toland's men to move the ball out wide at every opportunity meant for an uncomfortable opening for the home side.

Clontarf finally got going with an O'Brien chip through almost sending Philip Howard in for a try in the corner. But with the bounce benefiting the covering Lansdowne player, the visitors were able to clear into touch.

But from the resultant throw in Martin Garvey gathered and managed to find wing-forward Declan Quinn who took on the possession to score to the right of the posts.

O'Shea converted to make it 7-3 on 18 minutes before a Lansdowne move under the Clontarf posts saw Shane Whelan offload to Niall Ronan for the touchdown.

Dolan added the extra points before before O'Brien landed a drop goal just short of the half hour to level proceedings.

And then on 32 minutes, John Lyne ventured offside with O'Shea punishing his indiscretion when landing a straight forward penalty from in front of the posts.

At this stage Clontarf were beginning to impose their will on the game and following an exhilarating break from number eight Philip Purdue, Clontarf extended their lead with O'Shea adding his second penalty of the game with a minute to go.

The second half was just few minutes old when Clontarf crossed the line for the second time after good work from O'Brien had sent over Howard on the right hand side. The score was disallowed however following an earlier indiscretion but Clontarf should have made the game safe when replacement David O Siochain failed to give out a simple pass out to Howard on the right with 15 minutes remaining.

But with Lansdowne unable to get out of their half, Clontarf were able to run down the clock with O'Shea finishing proceedings off with the game's final score from a penalty in injury time.

CLONTARF D O'Shea; M Rantz McDonald, M Hewitt, N McNamara, P Howard; P O'Brien, F O'Loughlin; J Wichham, B Jackman, A O'Donnell, A Trenier, M Garvey, S Crawford, D Quinn, P Purdue Subs N Carson for Jackman, 55 mins; D O Siochain for O'Brien, 57 mins, A Clarke for O'Donnell, 65 mins LANSDOWNE R Dolan, N Walsh, C Casey, G Stafford, J Coleman, B O' Shea, S Whelan, J Lyne, K Corrigan, K Cleere, A Maher, D Toner, D Lavin, N Ronan, R Boucher Subs P Doran Jones for Cleere, 33 mins; J Donovan for Lavin, 42 mins; G O'Meara for Corrigan, 65 mins Referee D Moloney (MRA)