Shannon keep hopes alive

A CASE of who needed it more as much as who wanted it more, and in the end Shannon's champion instinct proved their saving grace in what so easily could have been the death of their title defence.

This encounter at Castle Avenue may yet be remembered for Clontarf's downfall rather than Shannon's resurrection. With the outcome wide open until the final few minutes, it took two late tries to create this padded Shannon scoreline and send Clontarf an unfortunate step closer to the division trapdoor.

"There were a few anxious moments," admitted Shannon coach Pat Murray, "but it puts us back in the hunt. We have two games at home now and it's still a very interesting competition. A few of the other results today also help our cause although there's been no pattern at all this year so it's hard to predict what could happen next."

Drastic situations call for drastic measures and such was Shannon's strategy both before and during the game. Colm McMahon was moved from flanker to centre in the starting line-up and there was a major overhaul of the lineout as the second half supremacy of Clontarf came so close to overwhelming Shannon's early command.

Working against the strong wind and occasional rain, Andrew Thompson furnished a sixth-minute penalty from the progressive work of the Shannon forwards, most significantly through John Hayes and Mick Galwey. Mark Woods and Paul Noble were busy covering Clontarf's area and when Eddie Halvey blocked a clearance kick, the ball bounced back for Brian Roche who sped through the remaining defence for the opening try. Thompson's demanding conversion brought it to 10-0 and it very soon looked bleak for Clontarf.

Richie Murphy's stretching kicks helped initiate their counterattack yet the support from the half forwards was too often lacking. Chilean scrum half Sebastian Berti managed a drop goal just after the half hour but the wind advantage was never truly capitalised and it remained 10-3 at the break.

Bernard Jackman, Warren O'Kelly and David Moore finally instilled some organisation into the Clontarf pack as Shannon lost direction and at times went off the map. With two precise penalties from Murphy, the gap was down to a single point and the odds firmly shifted in Clontarf's favour.

The final quarter had Shannon struggling in dangerous territory yet in a matter of moments they turned it around. A well worked penalty and line-out set up Hayes' 25-metre drive for the clinching try two minutes from the end. Clontarf were flattened and then well into injury time Thompson wrapped up the result with a solo effort in the corner.

The 15 point winning margin brought nothing more than a reserved relief for the champions. No singing in the dressing room this time, although whose to say they're not saving the vocal chords for the bigger occasion. For Brent Pope, meanwhile, the task of keeping Clontarf in the top flight has now become greater than ever.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Thompson penalty, 0-3; 8: Roche try, Thomspon conversion, 0-10; 21: Berti drop goal 3-10; 55: Murphy penalty 6-10; 67: Murphy penalty 9-10; 78: Hayes try, Thompson conversion, 9-17; 82 Thompson try, conversion, 9-24.

CLONTARF: M Woods; P Noble, S Fitzsimons, M Smith, O Winchester, R Murphy; S Berti, H Hurley; B Jackman (capt), W O'Kelly, D Moore, C Power, D O'Brien, P Ward, C Brownlie. Replacements: R O'Reilly for Berti (32 mins), T Meagher for Fitzsimons (56 mins, T Kearns for Ward (75 mins).

SHANNON: J Hayes; A Thompson, C Burke, C McMahon, B Roche; J Galvin, S Johnson; M Horan, M McDermott, N Healy, M Galwey, J Hayes, A Quinlan, E Halvey, A Foley (capt). Replacements: D Kirby for Healy, F McNamara for Johnson (48 mins).

Referee: D Napier (Ulster).