Ballymena end Shannon unbeaten Thomond record

Shannon 27 Ballymena 37

Shannon's unbeaten record at Thomond Park came crashing down as 2003 champions Ballymena ran in four tries and kicked 17 points from the boot of Ian Humphreys in a 37-27 win.

Shannon remain a point behind leaders Con despite their first loss since losing 18-16 to UCD in Dublin in the autumn.

Depleted by their Munster involvement on Friday, Shannon’s pack were bossed about unmercifully in the second half and the biggest cheer of the afternoon greeted former Ireland captain Mick Galwey’s arrival onto the pitch for the home side.

The game looked all but over after 23 minutes as the visitors raced into a 23-0 lead.

A brace from Welsh centre Andy Maxwell (4 and 20 minutes) allied to lock Stephen McConnell’s 16th minute effort, set free by scrum half Peter Spence, put the visitors into an imposing position but Geoff Moylan's side did well to come back to within five points at 26-21 at the break, through tries from pack heavyweights Tony Buckley and David Heaton.

Centre Eoin Cahill did get over for his third try of the season in the second period and top scoring left wing Tom Cregan did manage to hit some excellent penalties into the wind, on 44 and 61 minutes, the second from halfway.

But Maxwell’s third on 53 minutes put the scores at 31-24 and man-of-the-match Humphreys rounded off his tally, with his third drop goal with four minutes remaining.