Shannon win thriller with last-minute kick

Garryowen 20 Shannon 21

Garryowen heartbreakingly lost a second ‘home’ semi-final in as many seasons as out-half David Delaney kicked Shannon into the Division One decider.

Garryowen, beaten by Harlequins last year, looked to have won it at Dooradoyle when full back Conor Kilroy landed a stunning 40-metre penalty – into the wind – on 80 minutes.

But in the fourth minute of injury time, hands in the ruck allowed Delaney a shot at the posts and he made no mistake.

Kilroy scored a try and five penalties in all.

Centre Eoin Cahill ran in two tries for Shannon, who trailed by 11-5 at half time.

GARRYOWEN: C Kilroy; Ciaran O’Boyle, K Hartigan, P Devlin, Cillian O’Boyle; C Doyle, G Hurley; R Brosnan, P Humphries, R Laffan, E Mackey, D Sheehan, P Neville, A Kavanagh, P Malone (capt).

Subs used: M Melbourne for Sheehan (half time), A O’Loughlin for Hartigan (45 mins), F Pala’amo for Laffan (54), D Varley for Humphries (76)

SHANNON: D O’Donovan; P O’Connor, A Thompson, E Cahill, B Tuohy; D Delaney, F McNamara; L Hogan, S Cronin, G McNamara, T Hogan, P O’Brien, C McMahon (capt), J O’Connor, D Ryan.

Subs used: J Hadnett for O’Brien (9-16 mins), Hadnett for McMahon (61)

Scorers: Garryowen: Try: Conor Kilroy; Pens: Kilroy 5

Shannon: Tries: Eoin Cahill 2; Con: David Delaney; Pens: Delaney 3