Shannon Claim Transfield Cup

Shannon claimed the Transfield Cup for the tenth time in their history with an impressive 28-15 win over UL Bohs at the weekend.

Played in blustery conditions Shannon piled on the pressure in the second half to reverse a 15-10 deficit from the opening forty minutes and thus denying UL/Bohs the opportunity to hold onto the Cup they won last season.
UL/Bohs, playing with the breeze to the backs started extremely well and in those early exchanges it looked as if they could comfortably win the game. After just five minutes they caught out the Shannon back line with a cross field kick which was gathered well and resulted in their opening try. It was a good start, but they failed to capitalise on their early spell of dominance.

Shannon settled and scored a fantastic try in the 20th minute. From inside their own ’22 some slick hands and strong running from winger Mark Tuohy set up Riche Mullane who went over under the posts. Seven points a piece was hardly a true reflection of the came thus far, but UL/Bohs did gain the advantage once again, first through a penalty and then another try. That try came more through misunderstanding in Shannon’s defence than UL/Boh’s enterprise, however full marks do go to the scrum half that benefited from the lapse. A yellow card for a Shannon prop didn’t help their cause, but their inferior numbers wasn’t capitalised upon. Indeed during that period, not one scrum was awarded to either side and it was Shannon that scored in those 10 minutes through a Tadgh Bennett penalty. At 15-10 down at the interval, Shannon had sufficient reason to be positive of the outcome, and when Bennett was moved to outhalf through injury he very ably orchestrated the victory.

The wind whipped up as the second half began and it was the signal for Shannon to storm into the lead. A turnover in midfield afforded Mark Tuohy an opportunity for dash to the line, and with some work to do he didn’t fail his colleagues. Bennett missed the difficult conversion, but even with the sides all square, it was Shannon who looked most likely to score again. UL/Bohs were finding it very difficult to get any sort of a foothold in Shannon’s half , but despite a major share hold of possession Shannon didn’t take the lead until the 64th minute. From a lineout, an area where they increasingly put the squeeze on, Shannon set up a ruck and when the industrious scrum half, Dave Barry spotted an opening he lunged and successfully grounded the ball.

There was no apparent way back for UL/Bohs as Shannon kept their momentum intact. Bennett added the conversion and then tagged over two more penalties to ensure the victory for his side.

Shannon
T. Bennett, M. Tuohy, R. Mullane, E. Lane, P. O’Sullivan, J. Moran (K. Ellis), D. Barry, L. Hogan, C. Noonan, (J. Doran), N. Murray, N. O’Driscoll, A. Kennedy (Capt), L. Mullane, B. Meade, L. O’Sullivan, (P. Ryan)