Two prominent players move from Shannon

OUR task for the season got a bit more difficult this week with two highly influential players stepping out of the squad for slightly different reasons. Gareth Quinn-McDonagh leaves these shores and over to England to take up a playing opportunity with Doncaster who ply their trade in the English second division. He will be a huge loss to the team, but as always we wish any player on the move all the very best in their new ventures.

A move that has been flagged for a while now is David O'Donovan's move a little further afield, to Australia. I know that the decision to leave Ireland has been a difficult one for Dunny, but his opportunity to head down under is choice that many face these days. He joined Shannon in 1998, straight from school and his 14-year journey with the club has been paved with a loyalty and dedication that has reaped a great many highlights. 130 AIL appearances in so mean feat, and with them came four AIL medals, an all Ireland cup and five senior cups. In any sense, Dunny is a highly decorated rugby player, but it didn't come easy and his commitment to achieving and excelling was a mark of him as a player. His booming voice from full back, marshalling those ahead was a common feature and the shout of "Hammer, Hammer, and Hammer" will be missed on the pitch! We know, in the age of social media, that Australia isn't that far away, but still his presence around Coonagh and Thomond park will be sorely missed, and we will be a lesser senior squad with our David's presence for so many reasons, but life is life and we wish him all the very best in his new adventure.

We had plenty of action over the last week, with a number of significant victories for many of our teams each as important as the next with plenty of merits in each win. However with respect to our other teams, last weekend's U/21 AIL victory was the highlight of the lot. UCC are generally the standard-bearers at this level, always have, and probably always will be, and it's the students that many teams would use as the barometer for their own standards.

There was nothing to fear for our lads going into the game. The main concern was their lack of game time during the scheduled Christmas and New Year break. Already with a win over UCC this season to their credit, the ability to record a second win was never in doubt. However, as we all now ability doesn't always equate to rewards. The visitors to Coonagh were a typical big and organised unit with one of our own past players Declan O'Halloran amongst those that whip them into shape. The wind on the Well Field ensured that both sides would enjoy 40 minutes of its advantage with our lads utilising in the first half. However, despite what the ultimate outcome was, that first half will not go down as the most productive and all the signs of that ring rustiness was evident. UCC's pack looked ominous as the used a pick and go game to good effect. Our lads were a bit disjointed and too make matters worse a sin binning for us made the task look more daunting. College took the lead with a penalty and the wind was doing us no real favours, or rather, we weren't using it sufficiently as an ally. We did get three opportunities at goal prior to the break, but rather uncharacteristically, Ben Sargent only managed to land one. But to his enormous credit, he took stock, didn't let it faze him and proceeded to land three shots that are more outstanding in the second half.

Indeed it was Ben's second successful penalty that gave us the lead, and it was a quite a transformation from our lads in the second half. The loose and meandering play of the first half had been dramatically transformed into a tight and purposeful affair. I tweeted during the game that work rate = rewards and that was certainly the case. The pack were immense and the back line marshalled the lines very well. Mark Corby scored the crucial try that seemed to deflate UCC, even with 20 minutes to go and to exacerbate UCC's woes, Ben landed a brilliant conversion in the face of the strong wind. It was hard to imagine that the students could be held scoreless in the second half , but such was the unity if our lads it became almost impossible for them to breech the line. Ben added another penalty to make it 16-3 and with just 14 minutes to play all that was required was to maintain the concentration. That was achieved in bucket loads and a second win over UCC was achieved. The South-western conference section B has four games remaining and the lads are still very much in the hunt for advancement and thankfully it's in their hands , but with a second half performance such as we had last Saturday they can be confident heading into the final furlong.

Our Women's side had a fantastic win on the road on Sunday and proof of their continuing improvement came by way of a 22-0 win over Ballincollig. A loss the week before masked some excellent play and they carried that momentum into this came. Early exchanges were tight , but as the game progressed, it was obvious that we were taking control. Melissa Radic was in top form and scored two of our four tries, and they were followed by tries from Becca O'Shea and Aoife O'Sullivan. Karen Keehan topped up the scoreline with a conversion and a morale-boasting win was achieved by the women. Hopefully their hard-earned momentum will continue when they play Highfield on Sunday in Coonagh.

The thirds took their leave in the Gleeson League at the semi final stage last Friday evening when a very strong Garryowen side won with a bit of ease. The light blues potency in the back line was , in the main , our undoing and they were worthy winners on the night. Our own lads should be reasonably pleased that they managed to get this far in the competition and will look forward to a good Webb Cup campaign soon

Shannon/St.Mary’s U19 played Nenagh Ormond in the opening Pool match of their Pan Munster U19 Competition in Coonagh and after a somewhat messy game, emerged comfortable 26-0 winners. Nenagh started well but the Parish lads met their challenge well and after 15 minutes were 14 nil ahead following two tries by Shane Ryan and Mikey Flannery. Both tries were excellently converted by Conor Burns, particularly the second effort that he slotted from the left touchline in a swirling wind. The game went into a little bit of a lull after this with some of the Parish lads beginning to lose focus and going on some solo runs. The second half saw another brace of tries, one from Piaras O’Flynn and the other from Ryan Meaney. It was a great way to start the Pan Munster competition from the lads and while the result is very pleasing, a common occurrence from this team is a drop of intensity when things are going well. The tests get bigger with the teams getting stronger and that unwanted trait will need to curtailed. Young Munster, in the next round will require far more consistency throughout.

In Annacotty, the U/17 has had an excellent win by 27-19 over UL/Bohs. It was a game that could easily have went either way, especially in the final quarter when the home side reeled in our lead to within a single score, but tenacity was to the fore and not only did they withstand the pressure, they increased their lead in the closing stages. Two good tries from Conor Humphreys and William Leonard were augmented with a super kicking display from James Guinea who landed three conversions and three penalties. It was a victory tinged with sadness as the lads lose their fantastic coach Damian Ryan, who moves to England to take up a teaching post this week. Damian has been a coach who has committed and enormous amount of time to the lads and his dedication will be sorely missed not only form the U/17's but from the seconds and thirds who have benefitted from Damo's playing skills this season. So we wish a great clubman all the very best this chapter of his young life and look forward to welcoming him back at some stage in the future, but for the moment , Thank You Damo for your efforts.

The U/13's went to Woodview for their latest league game and all looked promising as we went into a 10 -5 lead early on. The lads were playing well, but a couple of small errors allowed Thomond take the lead and eventually win by 25-15. While the loss was disappointing, what was great to see is that all 36 players on the big panel got a game.

The U/8's took two teams to Annacotty for a Blitz and were typically excellent throughout. Both sides showed tremendous skill, and their vast and continuing improvement ensured a high win rate over UL/Bohs, Garryowen and Abbeyfeale.

Next weekend is going to a huge weekend on the field. Our seniors resume in the Ulster Bank league desperate to justify their enormous commitment to training. Every game is now increasingly becoming must win scenarios as we look for the safety of mid table for the moment. The task facing is this week is Clontarf who are up at the other end of the table and will be looking to get their campaign kick-started again after a couple of splutters recently. We return to Thomond Park for this game that kicks off at the usual 2.30.

On Sunday, we dip our toes into the junior cup for the first time this season with a tough assignment in Newcastle West. We have had a few encouraging performances of late, but the junior cup is a competition that has its own quirky nature. We head down west with trepidation, but a certain degree of confidence.

The following week we are heading to Lansdowne road for our next AIL game and this game will see the return of Dessie McInerney's supporter's bus. It will cost €20, with finger food on the way home.

Munster's magnificent achievement in Milton Keynes last Saturday will ensure fervour for quarterfinal tickets. We would like to inform our members that Tadgh will take ticket applications for this game, but only paid up current members will be considered during the distribution process.

Also on tickets, anyone wishing to submit an application for The Rabo Pro 12 league clash Munster v Leinster on March 31st should do so no later than January 31st.

One final bit of housekeeping before we conclude. A number of vacancies will arise on the Executive committee at the conclusion of the season and anyone with an interest in filling a position could make themselves known to the existing committee. This information, in no way precludes any member from being nominated for a position, 14 days prior to the AGM, as per our club rules. We just wish to give notice to our members in well in advance.