A late pushover try from Phil Purdue was required as Clontarf kept hold of fourth place in Division One by seeing off a stubborn Greystones side at Castle Avenue this afternoon.
Ian Keatley grabbed a converted try to add to an earlier penalty as 'Tarf turned around with a 10-6 buffer, with Keatley's Leinster Academy colleague James Power booting two penalties for the visitors.
Five more points from Keatley and a Chris Elvin try kept the hosts ahead but only just as 'Stones worked Ronan Carroll and David McKechnie over for tries, before Purdue had the final say.
Beaten 36-7 by Cork Constitution last time out, Clontarf were once again disappointing but they did just enough to claim their fourth win in seven home matches in the league this term.
Andy Wood’s side, hoping to keep up the club's proud record of reaching the play-offs, scored at crucial periods in this all-Leinster encounter. Keatley's try before half-time, which saw him link well with his former Ireland Under-20 colleague Paul O’Donohoe, was really the catalyst for this win.
'Stones, whose pack include current Ireland Under-20 hooker Jason Harris-Wright and talismanic stand-in skipper Stuart Abbott, kept plugging away and reduced the gap to a more manageable 10-6 when Power pinged over his second penalty of the afternoon.
Matters improved further for the County Wicklow men on the restart when winger Carroll shrugged off a tackle from Niall O’Brien to score in the corner and make it 11-10 in the visitors' favour.
By this stage, Leinster and Ireland 'A' prop Cian Healy had entered the fray but he was almost immediately sin-binned as referee Peter Fitzgibbon clearly saw him knee his direct opponent at a scrum.
It crowned a forgettable weekend for the young 'Tarf clubman as he was also yellow carded in Leinster's Magners League win over Connacht last night.
With their numerical advantage and half-backs Power and Cillian Willis eager to run, 'Stones tried to swarm forward at every opportunity but 'Tarf showed the better control in defence and attack and Keatley kicked them back into the lead.
Kiwi flanker Elvin then barged his way over from close range for a seven-pointer which perhaps put a flattering gloss on the score-line – 20-11 – given the work-rate of the visitors.
'Stones did set up a grandstand finish when AIB Club international McKechnie sped up into the line and touched down for his fourth try of the campaign.
That score brought about a milestone in itself in that it helped Greystones become the first AIB League club to top 5000 points in the history of the competition.
Quite an achievement but that was soon forgotten when 'Tarf's bigger forwards made the hard yards in injury-time and number 8 Purdue crashed over under a pile of bodies for the clinching score.
Scorers:
Clontarf: Tries: Ian Keatley, Chris Elvin, Phil Purdue; Cons: Ian Keatley 3; Pens: Ian Keatley 2
Greystones: Tries: Ronan Carroll, David McKechnie; Con: James Power; Pens: James Power 2
HT: Clontarf 10 Greystones 6
