Television probably got it right. By completing a final pairing which the campaign deserved, by joining Cork Constitution in the decider, Shannon's semi-final with Clontarf may have been more dramatic than the earlier match but it certainly didn't flow like a waterfall.
At least in the trench warfare on a Castle Avenue mudbath in February, conditions had been a mitigating factor. But here sunshine, a green pitch and an expectant 4,000 crowd provided a near perfect setting for this AIB League semi-final.
But to an even greater extent than in the previous meeting, the two sides cancelled each other out. Clontarf's defence and competitiveness at the breakdown denied Shannon much fluidity, while the visitors fed off morsels mostly, given the way Shannon ate into their lineout. The back play, from both sides, was unexceptional.
Admittedly, some of the forward drives were impressive, most notably those from Shannon's Marcus Horan. As in the first meeting, Peter Clohessy's ready-made replacement for Munster in both the short and long term upped the ante after the interval with another virtuoso, man-of-the-match performance.
John Hayes made his physical presence tell early on, a disciplined Brian Buckley had a big game out of touch and in general play, while David Quinlan's leadership was supplemented by a highly-charged Mick Galwey for the last half-hour.
Ben Gissing, Dave Moore and Warren O'Kelly led the charges for Clontarf, but after those hard yards were made Clontarf didn't seem to know what to do next. Their coach, Phil Werahiko, lamented that they ran out of support, but if the ball wasn't turned over then Jimmy Dempsey would invariably put boot to leather, and as often as not Shannon won the ensuing lineout.
"Shannon territorially had the metres on us," admitted Werahiko. "We fought for every inch that we were given, and I thought they were a far better organised unit, especially on defence at lineout. They seemed to read our lineouts very easily and they competed very well. Our lineouts never got going and so therefore a lot of our game never got going either."
Clontarf did well to get as close as they did, for even the highly-regarded Mike Walls, presumably a primary cause for the presence of Connacht coach Steph Nel, never became a real factor. One early snipe around the blindside into the path of Hayes possibly discouraged him for the remainder of the game (could you blame him?).
Useful centre Alan Reddan hardly touched the ball, and their dangerous, twinkle-toed right winger, Daire Higgins, received his first pass only in injury time. Prolific winger Ollie Winchester was equally starved of possession, and Kevin Nowlan wasn't introduced until the 78th minute.
Even Gissing's influence became increasingly diminished as Shannon's scrum, having struggled, began to gain the ascendancy.
"With three full-time professionals in the front row against part-timers, if that didn't come into play I'd be asking questions," admitted their coach, Geoff Moylan, candidly.
Though Shannon lorded things territorially, many of the exchanges were bogged down in midfield. The rate of handling errors and the failure to protect the ball in contact were compounded by referee Dave McHugh's strictness for not releasing, and so the game was virtually devoid of continuity.
Instead, it quickly settled into a duel of long-range penalty kicks between Tom Cregan and Jimmy Dempsey.
In this, like much else, Shannon just had the edge. Cregan (laid low with appendicitis late on Friday night) recovered manfully to land four out of six, the last from two metres inside his own half, to Dempsey's three out of six. The two tallies were supplemented by neatly-taken drop-goals by Maurice Lawlor (easily the best back on view) and Dave O'Brien.
Significantly, Shannon were never headed, and on the two occasions Clontarf drew level, the home side regained the lead within two minutes.
"It was kind of frustrating to play against them," admitted Moylan, "but the most important thing was that we didn't get frustrated. We stuck at it and we ground it out, and the next day is another day."
That Clontarf were still hanging in there within a kick of extra time says much for their character, the aspect of their performance and, perhaps, their season, which gave Werahiko most satisfaction.
"The lads didn't fold where other sides would have, especially with the pressure Shannon had inside our 22 on four or five occasions in the match."
In that and much else this season Clontarf have much to be proud of. After extracting sponsorship from AIB for coach trips to Limerick, the numbers of blue and red-clad under-age supporters among the approximately 1,000 travelling fans augured well.
By winning the Leinster Cup, reaching the Leinster League final and, for the first time, a top-four AIL finish and a semi-final, Clontarf have found a level of consistency unsurpassed in their 125-year history.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Cregan pen 3-0; 13mins: Cregan pen 6-0; 21 mins: Dempsey pen 6-3; 30 mins: O'Brien drop goal 6-6; 32 mins: Cregan pen 9-6; (Half-time: 9-6); 49 mins: Dempsey pen 9-9; 51 mins: Lawlor drop goal 12-9; 72 mins: Cregan pen 15-9; 77mins: Dempsey pen 15-12.
SHANNON: J Lacey; T Cregan, M Lawlor, A Thompson, M McNamara; N McNamara, D Hegarty; M Horan, J Blaney, J Hayes, B Buckley, T Hayes, A Foley, D Quinlan (capt), C McMahon. Replacements: M Galwey for T Hayes (51 mins), F O'Loughlin for M McNamara (79 mins).
CLONTARF: D O'Brien; D Higgins, A Reddan, J Downey, O Winchester; J Dempsey, M Walls; W O'Kelly, M Kennedy, A Clarke, D Sheehan, A Wood, D Moore, B Gissing, D Quinn. Replacements: T Foucher for Kennedy (71 mins), K Nowlan for O'Brien (78 mins). Referee: D McHugh (IRFU).
