Coming off the back of an impressive draw in Navan, PortDara Falcons welcomed Clonarf RFC to Portarlington for a rerun of last season's Finals Day clash at Donnybrook which the Falcons won but on this occasion it was the Dublin outfit that left with the spoils thanks to a last play try.

The Falcons had a number of new players in their ranks and this lack of familiarity was tested from the off as Clontarf set the tempo and commanded possession and territory in the opening quarter. However, the home side showed some really good organisation and tackling to repel the early assaults and deny the visitors. On twenty three minutes a well worked turnover thanks to accuracy from Andrea Broughan allowed PortDara to move into opposition territory and they showed good control to keep the ball moving and with the Clontarf defence stretched centre Caoilfhionn Culliton ran a powerful inside line to penetrate the defence and score under the posts. Stand in out half Aoife Murphy added the extras and the Falcons had a 7-0 lead.

There were no further scores in the opening half with PortDara dominating but the windy conditions led to errors at key moments. And early in the second period Clontarf looked likely to tie things up when their pacy outside centre found a gap and broke from her own half. With only full back Orla O'Donovan to beat the 'Tarf player stepped powerfully off her right foot only to be floored by a perfect tackle from O'Donovan. With the attacking player isolated the Falcons defence was able to scramble and their lead was maintained.

Shortly afterwards PortDara number eight Sarah Pickford worked another really good turnover for her side and her side capitalised brilliantly with outhalf Kate Tynan finding Aoife Murphy with an accurate quick pass that allowed her ten to break at pace. Murphy accelerated away from the cover defence and having finished under the posts she converted her own try to double the Falcons lead.

With fifty four minutes on the clock Clontarf were enjoying another period of control. With the ball on their opponents twenty two metre line and a two player overlap begging to be exploited Kate Tynan made a hugely important tackle that forced a knock on from Clontarf and again her side's lead was intact. However ten minutes later Clontarf finally made use of extra numbers out wide to score their first try. The score was now 14-5.

With ten minutes remaining Aoife Murphy made a tackle on her own twenty two and in the ruck that followed a Clontarf knee found Murphy's chest and the injury ended her game. The forced reorganisation in the Falcons back line that followed would ultimately influence the outcome and soon afterwards with gaps appearing in the line, Clontarf again scored to reduce the lead to four points. And with one minute remaining it looked like the home team would hang on for a deserved victory until a turnover near half way gave possession to Clontarf and the Dublin side capitalised to score in injury time and take the points.

Falcons Head Coach Cassie Dunne will know that her side can take more than just a losing bonus point from this game as they showed that they are more than capable at this level following their promotion last season. They will hope to have some key players back next week when they travel to Wanderers.

PortDara Falcons: Orla O’Donovan, Michelle Maher, Ellen Enright, Caoilfhionn Culliton, Nicole Kirwan, Aoife Murphy, Kate Tynan (Captain), Andrea Broughan, Kim Tully, Leanne Caulfield, Noelle Doody, Amy Guilfoyle, Celeste Cannon, Rebecca Duggan, Sarah Pickford, Rebecca Carroll, Hannah Lining, Siobhan Griffin.