Shannon closed the gap on Division One leaders Cork Constitution to a single point as they scored a bonus-point victory over Terenure College at Coonagh this afternoon.
Experienced centre Andrew Thompson was to the fore for Shannon as he scored two tries, two conversions and a penalty to take his tally for the league season to 99 points.
Mick Galwey’s side led 17-0 at the break having had the benefit of the wind at their backs. Thompson touched down after 29 and 38 minutes to give Terenure a mountain to climb.
Tries from Padraig O’Brien and David Quinlan, with busy Munster winger Ian Dowling involved in both, saw Shannon ease home although ‘Nure did cross the whitewash twice through Brian Moroney and Graham Coffey.
Playing with a strong wind at their backs, Shannon gained an early advantage although both sides had a player sent to the sin-bin in the opening ten minutes.
‘Nure lock Kieran O’Dwyer saw yellow for punching and Shannon’s Killian O’Neill was picked out for stamping.
Thompson opened the scoring in the 13th-minute with a well-struck penalty and he followed up with a try some 16 minutes later.
Sean Cronin, who has agreed to join Connacht for next season, burst through the Dubliners’ cover defence, full-back Andrew Finn cut through on a lovely angle and he offloaded in time for Thompson to go over.
The Laois man added the conversion but ‘Nure were very close to a try of their own shortly before half-time, only for an untimely knock to spoil what was a very promising attack.
Shannon edged closer to the tenth home win in-a-row in the league when they scored arguably their try of the season.
It was an excellent team effort as Colm McMahon made the initial break, Stephen Kelly and Cronin both put in carries before prop Kevin Griffin offloaded well for young out-half Joey Moran to continue the attack.
He found John Cloghan in space and he put his centre partner Thompson haring over for a score which he converted himself for 17-0.
Shannon started the second half like a steam train as lock O’Brien touched down.
The lead-up again contained some notable contributions with Dowling, playing in his first league game for Shannon this season, linking with Thompson on the right and Cronin again made ground before O’Brien, who was up in support, crashed over.
The conversion was missed and then ‘Nure had a spell of dominance coming up to the hour mark.
Irish Colleges flanker Moroney scored in the 48th-minute after a long spell of possession for the visitors in the Shannon 22.
Ten minutes later, centre Coffey intercepted a pass and ran over close to the posts for Robbie McCarthy to convert and whittle Shannon’s lead down to 22-12.
Kevin West’s side certainly made a game of it and Shannon were not out of the woods until the 77th-minute when, after a patient build-up which involved Dowling and Finn, a case of numbers out wide on the right led to number 8 Quinlan nabbing the crucial bonus point try.
Shannon: Tries: Andrew Thompson 2, Padraig O’Brien, David Quinlan; Cons: Andrew Thompson 2; Pen: Andrew Thompson
Terenure College: Tries: Brian Moroney, Graham Coffey; Con: Robbie McCarthy
HT: Shannon 17 Terenure College 0
