Shannon suffer again as Lansdowne cut loose

Lansdowne 48 Shannon 7

Lansdowne were on the scoreboard after a strong break by Charlie Butterworth and slick passing sent Matt Healy free on the right to score. Butterworth then rampaged through a shell-shocked Shannon defence to touch down and make it 12-0 after only 13 minutes.

The visitors hit back with a scrambling score from flanker John Shine but Craig Ronaldson responded with a well-struck penalty before inside centre Sean Carey started and finished a move to score a fine try. Ronaldson converted and added another penalty before Healy streaked clear down the left again to make it 32-7 at the break.

Two penalties from Ronaldson, one from the halfway line, stretched the lead further. Shannon’s miserable afternoon was compounded when Lansdowne captain touched down in the left-hand corner. Substitute Tom Farrell repeated the trick with two minutes remaining.

Scorers for Lansdowne: Tries: Healy (two), Butterworth, Farrell, Carey, McCarron. Pens: Ronaldson (four). Cons: Ronaldson (three).

Scorers for Shannon: Try: Shine. Con: Guerin.

LANSDOWNE: R McCarron; C Aherne, S Gahan, S Carey, M Healy; C Ronaldson, P O’Driscoll; J O’Connell, S Collins, D O’Reilly; W Earle, T Beirne; C Ross, C Butterworth, R Boucher.

Replacements: T Farrell for Healy (40), M Walsh for O’Driscoll (40), T Sexton for O’Connell (40), R Liddington for O’Reilly (40), M Feeley for Boucher (61).

SHANNON: J Loxton; C O’Neill, R Mullane, B Smith, M Leonard; R Guerin, M Darcy (L O’Dea 32); G McNamara (A O’Brien 52), J Cronin, K Griffen; J Sheerin, F Walshe (S Lipetcevic 32); J Murphy (K McLaughlin 46), J Shine, D Heffernan (M Culhane 26).

Replacements: M Culhane for D Heffernan (26), L O’Dea for M Darcy (32), S Lipetcevic for F Walshe (32), K McLaughlin for J Murphy (46), A O’Brien for G McNamara (52).

Referee: Olly Hodges (UL Bohemians).