Garryowen leapfrogged Shannon into first in the AIB League Division One standings after gaining a comfortable 34-8 win over the champions at Dooradoyle this afternoon.
Paul Cunningham's men even had enough of an edge over the visitors to steal in for a bonus point fourth try right at the death. Scrum-half Gerry Hurley broke clear two minutes into injury-time, but was held up short of the Shannon line. Garryowen attempted to recycle possession but Shannon were lying offside at the ruck and referee George Clancy awarded the hosts a penalty try.
Hurley dusted himself down to cheekily drop kick the conversion and confirm only Garryowen's sixth win in 17 All-Ireland League meetings with their Limerick rivals.
Fly-half Conor Kilroy landed an eighth-minute penalty to kickstart the Garryowen charge. Five minutes later, right winger Ciaran O'Boyle strode over for the first of his two tries. Kilroy converted and swung over a lengthy drop goal on 21 minutes.
Moments later, O'Boyle cut through for his second touchdown and Garryowen were in dream land. Munster's Mossie Lawlor reduced the deficit with a smart try just past the half-hour mark, but Shannon still trailed by 20-5 at the break.
Turning around with the wind in their favour, Shannon were expected to roar back into contention. They got the ideal start when fly-half Dave Delaney landed a penalty and Garryowen lost their captain Peter Malone to a yellow card.
But perhaps smarting from last weekend's AIB Cup semi-final defeat by St Mary's at the same venue, Garryowen regrouped and defended vigorously whenever the visitors got their rolling mauls going.
Back to their full compliment, Garryowen scored twice in the closing quarter to seal the win. First, flanker Anthony Kavanagh muscled over from close range for Kilroy to convert and Hurley helped rub Shannon noses in it with a final flourish.
