Shannon moved top of the AIB League Division One table by outlasting their Munster rivals Cork Constitution at a sodden Coonagh this afternoon.
Previous leaders Con lost for the first time this season thanks to an early penalty kick from Shannon veteran Andrew Thompson.
Thompson's kick saw Shannon turn around at half-time with a 3-0 buffer, after they had the better of the atrocious weather conditions.
Con mounted a concerted comeback late on and pounded away at the Shannon line in injury-time but Shannon’s defence was defiantly resolute.
Meeting for the 20th time in the AIB League, these two heavyweights of the domestic game slugged it out in a game that was confined largely between the two 22s.
Shannon have caught up with Con and passed them out in the league table, won back the Munster Senior Cup and begun the year by qualifying for the AIB Cup quarter-finals and securing first place in the Division One table.
Although Mick Galwey and his players know full well that there is a lot of work to get through between now and play-off time, this was a very important step on the way to guaranteeing a spot in the league semi-finals.
Con had chances to pull level or go ahead but they failed to take them with their kickers understandably struggling in the conditions.
A third, late kickable penalty was refused and they punted it to touch. Con won the lineout and went through a series of forward drives, each repelled by a teak-tough Shannon defence.
Eventually, the Leesiders made it over the line but they were held up, much to their annoyance. The ball was recycled but Shannon succeeded in driving Con back a full 15 metres and away from the danger zone and effectively that was that.
The game's only score came in the 12th-minute when Thompson, having missed an earlier effort, made amends with a difficult kick from the right and into a tricky wind.
Scorers:
Shannon: Pen: Andrew Thompson
Cork Constitution: None
