Clinical Bennett denies O’Connell winning return

PAUL O’CONNELL’S return after an eight-month injury lay-off attracted a fine crowd to Thomond Park last night, and they were well rewarded for coming out on a bitterly cold and wet night as Shannon pipped Young Munster by a single point in a highly competitive AIL Division 1A encounter.

The result was a little harsh on O’Connell’s Young Munster side given that they scored the only try of the night, a superb effort finished off by Ray Moloney that brought them to within a point of their rivals with three minutes left on the clock. But Alan Kingsley missed the conversion and was also off target with four penalty attempts, one with the last kick of the game.

Both sides were fully prepared to spread the ball wide and test the tackle in the first half, but defences remained on top so that the only scores were four penalties for Shannon landed by Tadgh Bennett as against three by Kingsley.