Last-gasp trait secures victory for Shannon
The last-gasp victory should nearly be patented by the Limerick side they've done it so often, and the only thing you can say at this stage is that it can't be a matter of sheer luck every time.
On Saturday at Castle Avenue, they were three points down as the clock ticked into the third minute of injury time but by the time referee David McHugh blew his full-time whistle 90 seconds later, they were victors by two. The four points keep the pressure on Cork Constitution at the top of the table and bar a decline of cataclysmic proportions in the coming weeks, Shannon will make the league semi-finals at the end of the season.
"We did very well to get back into the game," said Shannon coach Geoff Moylan. "When we lost the first try at the start of the second half it was a huge ask to work our way back out of it, especially with the conditions, but we managed it."
"Then Clontarf pegged us back once more and scored another great try and very few sides would have come back from that in injury time. I thought Jason Jones Hughes changed the game for us when he came off the bench and our tight five were excellent also."
For Clontarf, it was yet another last minute defeat. A couple of weeks back they were in a similar position against Cork Constitution and they let it slip; Saturday was almost an exact replica.
"I think you could say we were a little naive," said Clontarf coach Phil Werahiko. "Last season we had players with a little more experience and they would have been able to shut this game down. We just needed to hold onto the ball at the end but instead we kicked it aimlessly."
The Clontarf coach is largely correct in his critique of the game. His side played most of the rugby which was quite a surprise considering the conditions.
A pre-game hailstone shower created a sticky pitch and a greasy ball, but Werahiko's men, to their credit, continued to spread the ball wide to good affect all afternoon long They went into the interval 6-0 down thanks to two sweetly struck penalties from Shannon's Tom Cregan, but minutes after the resumption their expansive tactics paid dividends. The excellent David McAllister at out-half swung an enticing ball to his outside centre Conor Mahony, who combined cleverly with Bruce Wood, to send giant winger Darragh McElligott away in the corner. McAllister added the difficult convert and the home side were in front.
Shannon, although only one point down, were struggling for possession at this point and were finding it extremely difficult to escape their own half. It was always going to take a touch of magic to lift the siege and full-back John Lacey provided it with a jinking run deep into enemy territory.
The former Munster man was eventually stopped by Clontarf's Darragh O'Shea but at the break-down, Clontarf went over the top and Cregan notched his third penalty of the game to restore Shannon's lead.
Still there was more to come. Clontarf again set up camp in the Shannon 22, and despite some superb tackling around the fringes from Gareth Noonan and Tom Hayes, the Dublin side moved the ball wide once more, allowing full-back Darragh O'Shea to squeeze over in the right hand corner. McAllister missed the convert but Shannon were still 12-9 down as the game ticked into injury time.
But there was time for another great escape. Clontarf gained control of the ball from the re-start but were wasteful and Shannon got the grit between their teeth. They kept the ball in hand, and while they were repelled again and again by the home side, their persistence paid off when substitute George Murray video analyst to the Munster team danced his way impressively around two tackles to release centre Brian Tuohy for an unopposed canter to the line. The final whistle soon followed.
"Two years ago in the mud and rain here, we just about eked out a result like this one," said Moylan of his side's recent battles with Clontarf. "Last year they beat us in injury time in Thomond Park for the first time ever in the AIL, so it's swings and roundabouts between the two of us. I have huge respect for Clontarf and what they're doing here.
"They gave us a great game today and I think they're just having the problems with consistency that every team has when they lose so many players to provincial contracts. Next season they will be a team to be reckoned it."
As for his own side, the Shannon coach was emphatic about their efforts. "People say that the AIL doesn't matter but just listen to the lads in the dressing-room or come out and watch us train during the week and see what it means to those guys."
They'll be there or thereabouts once more.
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