Whatever prism you looked through, recent history or bookies odds, it would have shown that this pairing was a mis-match. Shannon on their first visit to the foothills of the Dublin mountains had never been to Stepaside before simply because DLSP hadn't broken into rugby's high society. From now on such preconceptions about pedigree will count for little as Cork Constitution and now Shannon well know.
Another scalp for the Dublin minnows, who have discovered an extra gear on the firmer spring turf, another reason to suggest that they can rise from the lower end of the table.
In the end it came down to a 20man effort from DLSP, with a few rising above the rest. Brian Hogan held his own against Irish scrumhalf Peter Stringer with his partner Dave O'Riordan at outhalf also stepping up to the required level of urgency. Of all though it was second row Rowan Frost whose low key but highly significant performance against John Langford typified the home form as DLSP held Shannon for 20 minutes having taken a 2317 lead on 45 minutes.
The result almost certainly puts Shannon out of contention for the semi-finals while the Irish management must also consider the departure of prop John Hayes who left the field with a groin injury just six days before Ireland's final Six Nations match against Wales.
It was a penalty from the loose head Mark Kavanagh which ended the scoring 35 minutes from the whistle after a first half in which Shannon astonishingly found themselves 17-0 down after only 13 minutes.
Shannon had the territorial advantage and the forward momentum in the last quarter but repeatedly DLSP held firm. Eddie Halvey, Marcus Horan and Anthony Foley repeatedly drilled at the home line but on each occasion found themselves turned.
"In fairness Cork Con and Shannon have a lot of players involved in interprovincial and international matches. Sometimes after playing for Ireland it is hard to get up for a club match but with the hard ground it is helping us to play more expansively, the game we want to play," said DLSP coach Phil Werahiko.
Scoring sequence: 7 mins - M Kavanagh 3-0; 10 mins - R Frost try, Kavanagh con 10-0; 13 mins - S Stephens try, Kavanagh con 17-0; 16 mins - A Quinlan try, C Burke con 17-7; 24 mins - Kavanagh pen 20-7; 42 mins - M Galwey try, Burke con 20-14. 42 mins - Burke pen 20-17; 45 mins - Kavanagh pen 23-17.
DLSP: E Devitt; J Corr, S Stephens, D McCabe, S Walsh; D O'Riordan, B Hogan; M Kavanagh, S O'Donnell, N Condron, K Wheelock, R Frost, D O'Brien, B Wood, T Giles. Replacements: S Sarsfield for O'Donnell (55 mins), K Condron for M Kavanagh (59 mins), K Lillis for Devitt (63 mins), D Maher for O'Brien (69 mins), N Byrne for Hogan and S Cullen for Condron 81 min.
SHANNON: J Hayes; A McGrath, R Ellison, P McMahon, M Lawlor; C Burke, P Stringer; J Hayes, M McDermott, M Horan, M Galwey, J Langford, A Quinlan, E Halvey, A Foley. Replacements: N McNamara for Lawlor (20 mins), J Galvin for Ellison (34 mins), R Ellison for Galvin (38 mins); N Healy for Foley (40 mins); A Foley for Hayes (44 mins): J Galvin for Ellison (60 mins): D Quinlan for A Quinlan (72 mins).
Referee: I Hyde-Lay (Canada).
