Monahan claims hat-trick as ’Rock smash Shannon in thriller

BLACKROCK COLLEGE exacted revenge for last season’s AIB All-Ireland Cup final defeat to Shannon with a thrilling 41-27 win at Stradbrook on Saturday.

Boyne native Shane Monahan grabbed a hat-trick as ‘Rock claimed only their fourth win in 15 AIL meetings with the Limerick giants, outscoring their opponents six tries to two.

Elsewhere, tries from Paul O’Donohoe and Niall O’Brien saw Clontarf come back from 13-0 down to oust Garryowen 14-13 at Castle Avenue.

Buccaneers marked their top flight return after a year’s absence with a 28-19 success over Dolphin, with former Wanderers back rower Koro Kiripati bagging a brace on his debut, while Connacht U-20 wing Alan Gaughan did the rest with the boot.

Young Munster came unstuck at Ballymena, going down 21-10, with ex-Leicester fly-half Ian Humphries contributing 11 points for Ballymena.

Dungannon suffered the ignominy of being the only home side to lose in Division One, as St Mary’s staged a smash-and-grab raid to post a 27-10 success at Stevenson Park. Old Belvedere got their campaign off to a good start at Anglesea Road with a 30-14 success over UCD, scoring 22 unanswered first-half points.

In Division Two, a late try from Munster Academy full-back Scott Deasy helped UCC grab a 19-19 draw with Lansdowne at the RDS.

Clonakilty suffered an eyebrow-raising defeat at Dublin University, going down 13-3, while Greystones had a nightmare return to Division Two, losing 16-10 to Malone at Gibson Park.

A Martin Gately try helped Highfield to a 13-3 win over Thomond, while Bruff won the battle of the promoted side when they scored four tries in a superb 35-12 win at Instonians.

Dublin sides DLSP and Bective got little change out of northerners Ballynahinch and Belfast Harlequins, going down 11-6 and 10-8 respectively, while Wanderers picked up a valuable 7-6 win at Old Crescent.

In Division Three, newly-promoted Portadown saw off Old Wesley 13-8, while Sunday’s Well came away from Connemara with four points thanks to a 19-11 success and Midleton won well at home to Ards. Things didn’t go so well for Nenagh Ormond, who were ousted 10-3 by Corinthians, or Barnhall, who lost at home to Suttonians. Waterpark were spanked 42-0 by Co Carlow. The Waterford outfit earned a stay of execution in Division Three after Monivea were stripped of promotion by the IRFU last term.