Another tough day for Shannon
Growing up, the 22-year-old Nicholas was conscious the number eight jersey he filled for St Munchin’s College, for Shannon and Munster A had been handed down by Foley and he considers it an honour to be following in the icon’s footsteps. I didn’t actually know him, but it’s impossible, particularly in a club like Shannon, not to understand how much he contributed to the game over the years and we all know about what he achieved with Munster and Ireland.
“He was an inspiration for many to be sure. For everyone associated with the club it has been a really bad period, particularly the week leading up to and including his funeral. It’s hard to digest really.”
The number eight jersey was stood down and a minute’s silence was observed at the Mardyke on Saturday, and the result of this Ulster Bank Division 1B league clash also means there will be tough days ahead for Shannon on the rugby front. Despite being significantly boosted by the presence of the experienced former Exeter Chiefs’ skipper Tom Hayes, a fifth successive defeat leaves Shannon firmly rooted at the bottom of the table.
The students, meanwhile, picked up their second win to move up to seventh, and they did so courtesy of a late surge after a particularly tough encounter against spirited Shannon.
College assured themselves of victory with a 79th minute try from captain Kevin Slater, while Kevin O’Keeffe had earlier kicked four penalties, two of them in the second-half after Conor Fitzgerald had secured a 9-6 lead for the visitors with three penalties.
“Just three points behind going into the last 10, we were in the game for sure, but I suppose we didn’t take our chances, we were sloppy in the red zone at times and it hurt us,” said Nicholas.
“The deciding try was a disappointment, it came from a kick and an unfortunate knock-on in the end zone; that shows where we were today, our errors coming back to bite us.”
The mood in the UCC camp was upbeat and the head coach David O’Mahony paid tribute to his front row for helping negotiate the path to victory.
“It was a very good game, very whole-hearted, although I believe the better side won in the end. We pulled away in the last 15 minutes and that has been the trend in our games to date, our ability to put in a strong last 20 or so; we’re in really good shape conditioning wise, we’ve worked very hard and we finish games strong. There were a few great performances out there but I thought our front row, with two very young props, was outstanding,” he said.
C McAuliffe, K O’Keeffe, K Slater (captain), M Linn, J Kiernan, C O’Regan, R Walsh, S O’Hanlon, B Burns, R O’Donovan, B Mitchell, D Moloney, C Barry, C Gallagher, R Moran.
E McCarthy, C Slowey, D Feeney, G Smith, T Kiersey.
R McKenna, N Randles, R Deegan, J O’Donnell, R Mullane, C Fitzgerald, J Stafford, C Glynn, A. Moloney, T Cusack, R Winter, T Hayes, J Vaughan, J Foley, L Nicholas (captain).
N Mulcahy, J Andress, P Kearns, D Gavin, W Leonard.
J Erskine (IRFU)
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