Shannon suffer again as Lansdowne cut loose
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).





