Four games remaining, two points adrift of Cork Con, three ahead of Garryowen
and seven clear of forth placed side Clontarf. It's no bad place to be in the
AIB league as the ground gets harder and the evenings brighter. A rare four try
bonus point win was a thoroughly justified result against a Ballymena side that
was competitive throughout and did, at times make life difficult for us.
However the victory came at a price. Tadhg Bennett lasted only four
minutes in the game after he badly dislocated his shoulder and the painful
injury looks set to sideline him for a while. David Quinlan lasted a
little longer, 24 minutes, but his finger dislocation will see will see him
miss out for a few weeks at least. That was the bad news. The good news was the
win which keeps us at the right end of the table However, despite the four
tries the mid game lulls are still apparent as we allowed Ballymena in for a
few tries when we comfortably leading. These lulls could cost us but on
Saturday we had sufficient points accumulated with our four tries. An excellent
start saw David Quinlan score our opener, and with Tadhg off the field
his replacement, Joey Moran, himself only returning from an injury
induced layoff, slotted in seamlessly and went on to receive the AIB man of the
match award. Next to cross the whitewash was Andrew Thompson who scored
again in the second half to bring his personal tally to 18 points on the day. Jake
Paranguiti was having a very industrious outing and has blended well into
the panel. Ballymena's response was a try from their main attacking threat, a
strong effective maul from a lineout, but before the break Fiach's eye
for a gap reaped a fine try. When all is said and done it was a good win over a
side that was always competitive. A break in the league programme sees us
travel to
The Seconds were much more emphatic on Sunday as they comprehensively
beat Ballincollig in the junior cup. A superb second half saw them thoroughly
outclass the visitors to Coonagh and secure safe passage to the quarter final.
There was some resistance in the opening half, but after 15 minutes of play the
first of our seven tries came when Eoghan Grace scored a superb try
whilst demonstrating his repertoire of skills. Although Ballincollig
immediately scored a penalty, our lads were always in control, and just before
the halftime break Jason O'Brien crossed the line 12-3 at the break soon
became 19 -3 as almost immediately after the restart Eoghan bagged another and
the almost incessant onslaught began. Coach George Murray was forced to lineout
and put his methods into practice when he scored next. Shane Mullally, Eamon
Lane and another from Jason O'Brien completed the rout and left the
scoreline at 47-3. The lads will have to wait until March 16th before their
next outing as two games are to be played to determine their quarter final
opponents.
The Thirds continued their good run of form with a hard earned 19-10
away victory over a strong Cashel side on Saturday. The pack again laid the
foundation for the win with a solid performance in the set pieces and in the
loose. The front row in particular were outstanding, with the man of the match
accolade shared by hooker Cian Noonan and tight-head Ger Broderick,
who between them scored all three of Shannon's tries. Noonan crossed for a
brace, with both scores coming in the first half. Outside of the front five, Pat
Quinn, Mike Goode, Jim Henegar and Jeff Collins all played well. Jimmy
Doran made a welcome return to the fray after a long lay-off through
injury. Pat Dundon and Ger Ryan had their usual solid games at
full back and scrum half, and Jonathan Bedford made some excellent
carries on the wing. He was well supported by centres Padraig O'Doherty
and Kieran Corcoran. Tony Hall completed the scoring for
The last league match for our 18's season saw them beat a gallant
UL/Bohs side by 29-5. Both sides started well and the fine morning encouraged
the teams to play open attacking rugby. Connor O'Driscoll opened the
scoring with a fine try .The pressure was maintained and just before half time
they were rewarded with another try by Sean O'Connor. The lads were
forced to defend for a period, in the second half, but they gradually
reasserted the dominance.3 further tries from Gordon Britchfield, Neal
McDonagh and Martin wrapped up the win. The UL/Bohs side got a late
try which left the final score at 29-5 to
A top of the table clash against Young Munster in Derryknockane saw the
U/13's lose their 100% record in the North Munster League with a narrow 8-5
loss to Young Munster. Scoreless at half time,
We wish the AIB Club International side all the best in their game with
Scotland and in particular our sole representative Andrew Finn who is a
replacement and indeed we extend our well wishes to all the Club players
involved throughout the weekend.
Andrew McNamara
Shannon RFC PRO
amcnamara@eircom.net
087 2717163Finally, keep voting for Leanne Moore on You're a Star by
texting "Star 13" to 53125.