Clontarf's march to the AIB League Division One play-offs continued unabated following a 30-10 victory over Cork Constitution at Castle Avenue. The match was a little 'tasty' on occasions, with referee David Tyndall brandishing the yellow card on six occasions.
The decision by the Cork side to match their opponents physically suggested players on both sides took umbrage at indiscriminate shoeing, which led to some bouts of fisticuffs.
The Mahony brothers, Cian for Cork Constitution and Conor for the home side, were both conspicuous but it was the elder sibling that would have enjoyed the day more, contributing half his side's total.
Tarf's other points came through tries from second row Ben Gissing, number eight Dave Moore and hooker Bernard Jackman,his seventh of the season. The Cork side's response was a fine individual try from outhalf Brendan Ronan, who added a conversion and a penalty.
Con are now freefalling perilously close to the relegation scramble.
Ballymena overcame a 16-5 interval deficit when hosting UCD at Eaton Park to run out 41-23 winners. Ireland Under-21 international Matt McCullough bagged a brace of tries while Scott Young, Derek Topping and Russell Nelson also crossed the students' line.
UCD managed a couple of tries from scrumhalf Brian O'Riordan and full back Darren McKenna, his sixth of the campaign.
Lansdowne are in third place following a fine 28-20 victory over Shannon at Lansdowne Road. The home side led 15-3 at the interval, the pick of their tries coming from full back Brian O'Mahony and wing Fiachra Baynes. Outhalf Matt Leek added the rest with the boot.
In the second half Shannon, missing their Munster contingent, responded with a couple of tries from Eddie Halvey and 10 points from the boot of a fit-again Tom Cregan.
Lansdowne's Karl Becker scoring a second-half try.
Buccaneers are again upwardly mobile following their 51-5 thrashing of Terenure College at Ericsson Park. The home side ran in seven tries, with scrumhalf Conor O'Loughlin leading the rout. Terenure now find themselves seven points adrift at the foot of the table.
Blackrock saw UL Bohemian score first through wing Keith Matthews but responded ruthlessly with seven tries in a 51-19 win. Gary Brown was once again a catalyst behind the scrum, ably supported by the hugely promising John Hearty.
St Mary's College thumped a strong Galwegians 45-18 at Templeville Road, with centre Kieran Lewis helping himself to a couple of tries.
Carlow ended their losing run with a superb 22-18 win over Garryowen at Oak Park, the highlight of which was a length-of-the-field intercept by captain and coach Dan van Zyl.
The home side outscored their opponents by three tries to two, with Ian Dwyer chipping in with a couple.
