Shannon Sweep Corinthians Aside For First Win
Shannon lifted their spirits with a much-needed 30-7 bonus point triumph away to out-of-sorts Corinthians in Ulster Bank League Division 1B.
Ian Sherwin's young side have been something of a 'second half team' of late, but at Corinthian Park Shannon put together their most complete performance of the season to date.
A converted try from captain John Shine, on the stroke of half-time, had the visitors leading 13-7 and they kicked on over the closing 40 minutes with three more tries.
With the wind at their backs, Shannon built some early pressure and were eventually awarded a penalty after Corinthians was pulled for killing the ball. Out-half Tadhg Bennett stepped up to take the three points on offer.
Corinthians scrum half Mickey Murphy made an excellent break some minutes later and Shannon suffered a setback when busy blindside Aidan Butler was sin-binned for foul play.
The Cloonacauneen outfit kicked for the corner but were unable to capitalise as 14-man Shannon got out of jail, with Bennett making it 6-0 soon after when the hosts were pinging for holding on at a ruck.
With half an hour on the clock, excellent work by Corinthians flanker Donnachadh Phelan and veteran lock Gary Warde saw the home pack power forward into scoring range and out-half Conor Murphy cut through for a well-worked try that he converted himself.
However, Shannon hit back with a seven-pointer of their own before the interval. Corinthians felt the whistle was coming for a knock-on but it never came and the visitors kept driving forward with flanker Shine rumbling over for a fine try which Bennett converted.
Sherwin's charges only had one league point to show for their three previous outings, but they really knuckled down in the second period to leave Corinthians trailing in their wake.
In the 52nd minute, number 8 Lee Nicholas touched down out wide as he profited from a close range scrum. That concession saw Corinthians boss Pat Cunningham look to his bench, although the changes failed to turn things around.
With their confidence up, Shannon collected two more tries to ensure an encouraging five-point return ahead of a month-long break in league fixtures.
Bennett converted a 78th minute try by left winger Stephen Fitzgerald, who finished off some crisp passing from the backs, and fellow wide man Greg O'Shea followed him over the try-line in injury-time.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)