Cregan pilots Shannon home

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE - DIVISION ONE/Garryowen...15 Shannon...22: In time-honoured fashion there was only a score between them at the end, though as Garryowen came knocking in search of an unlikely draw at Dooradoyle you really wondered how it could have come to that. Shannon were indisputably the better side, and now have one foot in the semi-finals, with another win certain to guarantee them a home tie in the play-offs.

Garryowen, meanwhile, ought to be grateful for what may yet turn out to be a critical bonus point. Surrounded by five Leinster clubs, that point just about keeps them in the top four amid the tightest of six-way contests for the third and fourth play-off places, though they'll need to beat both Ballymena (away) and UCD (at home) to make the cut.

Shannon always looked the more cohesive, better-drilled side and possessed most of the game's best performers and big plays. Weaving their patterns, their continuity game ensured they were the more ambitious and potent side with the ball.

They scored the game's only try, their excellent pressure defence hardly giving Garryowen a glimmer of the line, and responded to falling behind for the only time in the match and the ridiculously harsh sin-binning of Alan Quinlan to outscore Garryowen by 6-0 in the ensuing 10 minutes, Tom Cregan ultimately steering Shannon home with three unanswered penalties in the final quarter.

Quite how there was only a score in it at the end was a bit of a mystery. Most probably it was that indefinable quality that comes with a Limerick derby, an integral part of which is Garryowen's renowned "stickability".

Another factor was the high penalty count against Shannon. Some of them were needless, repeat-offender Brian Buckley unnecessarily barging into Eoin Kelly from the side of a ruck to allow Jeremy Staunton to slim Shannon's hard-earned lead down to 13-12 at the break.

On other occasions, such as the penalty with which Staunton put Garryowen ahead, the decision seemed more a reward for ham-acting than any perceived interference at the lineout by Alan Quinlan, likewise his yellow card when playing the ball while on his feet. The presumption was that it must have been for his infamous "lip", but not a word came from his beak. At times the poor fella's reputation does seem to precede him.

He'd had a big game up until then, as did his cousin David, the pressure they exerted going some way toward a rare off day for Killian Keane. Garryowen had clearly intended to use a gusty, capricious wind for position in the first half, but troubled by back and ankle injuries, he could never get his kicking game going.

The Shannon lineout ensured a steady supply of clean ball, their scrum exerted a fair toll on the light Garryowen pack, who admittedly mauled very well, but most of all the Shannon pack provided plenty of continuity and cleaner, more front-foot ruck ball. This was epitomised by one of several rumbles off the base of a scrum early on by David Quinlan on his own 22, from which Marcus Horan made a trademark pick-and-go charge on the 60-metre drive which led to Cregan opening the scoring.

Cregan missed what were for him two eminently kickable penalties, but still augmented an industrious game by scoring all his side's points.

The try owed much to Alan Quinlan's clean take, turn and charge; Horan adding another few inches before Niall McNamara used the decoy runners on either shoulder, Gary McNamara and Buckley, to check the Garryowen defence and create space for those outside. Andrew Thompson could have gone himself after a neat side-step but instead his loose pass bounced kindly for Cregan to straighten through Dominic Crotty and Kevin O'Riordan and score.

Such a score, and hence the game, was beyond Garryowen, even when Staunton's attempts at catch-up at the death threatened to find a hole in the Shannon line. There were none to be found.

Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Cregan pen 0-3; 19 mins: Staunton 3-3; 21 mins: Cregan pen 3-6; 25 mins: Keane pen 6-6; 32 mins: Cregan try, con 6-13; 36 mins: Staunton pen 9-13; 39 mins: Staunton pen 12-13; half-time: 12-13; 54 mins: Staunton pen 15-13; 61 mins: Cregan pen 15-16; 64 mins: Cregan pen 15-19; 79 mins: Cregan pen 15-22.

GARRYOWEN: D Crotty; C Tupiniere, J Staunton, R Niland, K O'Riordan; K Keane, T Tierney; J Giltenane, P Humphreys, R Laffan, E Kelly, J O'Sullivan, C Varley (capt), P Malone, P Neville. Replacements: S Leahy for Kelly (51 mins), D Wallace for Humphreys (66 mins), C Hartigan for Tupiniere, K Lauren for Laffan (both 76 mins).

SHANNON: J Lacey; T Cregan, M Lawlor, A Thompson, F O'Loughlin; N McNamara, D hegarty; M Horan, J Blaney, G McNamara, B Buckley, T Hayes, A Quinlan, D Quinlan (capt), C McMahon. Replacements: A Foley for A Quinlan (69 mins), F Roche for McNamara (77 mins).

Referee: S McDowell (IRFU).