14-Man Munsters End Shannon’s Winning Run
Despite squandering a number of try-scoring opportunities and having a player sent-off in the 31st minute, Young Munster deservedly won this bruising and intense Limerick derby at Tom Clifford Park.
With a very strong wind behind them, it took Young Munster only three minutes to go in front when their out-half Willie Staunton dropped a fine goal.
A penalty from a scrum saw Staunton double the hosts' lead before his opposite number Gareth Quinn McDonogh converted a penalty straight from the restart.
Back from a long injury lay-off, Tadhg Bennett was soon brought on for Quinn McDonogh who picked up a slight knock.
Bennett flashed his first penalty attempt across the posts and in an attritional and absorbing first half full of hard hits and strong defence, Quinn McDonogh came back on for the injured John Clogan at centre.
Shannon went close to scoring the opening try in the 22nd minute, good work from Paddy Butler and player-coach Stephen Keogh getting them into try-scoring range.
Munsters held out but suffered a serious setback on the half hour mark when an assistant referee indicated that he has seen their captain Ger Slattery punching Keogh. Referee Dudley Phillips duly produced his red card.
Staunton was wide with a penalty from inside his own half and an ambitious effort from Bennett, just before the break, failed to find the target.
It took a superb tackle by Shannon full-back Luke O'Dea to deny Young Munster a try nine minutes into the second half and two minutes later Staunton landed his second penalty to make it 9-3.
Winger Darragh O'Neill looked certain to grab a try for the home side but he knocked on as he tried to ground the ball after chasing his own chip ahead.
After 63 minutes Mike Prendergast's men engineered a three-on-one overlap but again the chance was wasted. Shannon applied intense pressure in the final minutes but in the end, only had a losing bonus point to show for their efforts.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU)