Blackrock 25 Shannon 32It will be little consolation for Blackrock that they played their part in one of the most entertaining matches so far in this seasons All Ireland League.
In the last two games Steve McIvor's young side have had the Division One pacesetters, Shannon and Cork Constitution, on the ropes but the knockout punch has never arrived.
Although highly frustrating for them, there are plenty of positives for the future. Wingers John Hearty and Ken Copeland have buckets of potential while David Gannon looks set to follow in the fine tradition of Blackrock second rows of recent times. It was the Ireland under-21 captain's try, seven minutes before the interval, which sparked a revival for the home side after the boot of Shannon's Tom Cregan looked set to dominate the contest.
Cregan, who finished with a 27-point haul, had his side in the driving seat early on with four penalties and he converted Fiach O'Loughlin's try, created by the pace of David O'Donovan down the left wing.
Gannon replied with his try, which was followed up five minutes later with another relentless surge through the Shannon rearguard before Emmet Farrell sent Hearty over out wide with a magnificent skip pass.
Three minutes after the interval a Conor Kilroy penalty put Blackrock in front for the first time but in a devastating two-minute spell Cregan stole back the spotlight from his rival place-kicker with his fifth penalty, a try and a conversion from wide on the right.
Blackrock rallied once more with Kilroy crossing for a try but his conversion attempt rebounded off the post and a subsequent penalty attempt drifted wide.
The introduction of Eddie Halvey and Colm McMahon made the comeback that bit more difficult. With the clock winding down, Farrell's attempted chip through was well covered by Mossie Lawlor and from the ensuing five-metre scrum Blackrock were penalised.
In the end, they can be thankful Cregan finally missed the target as his injury time penalty sailed wide to at least leave Blackrock with a bonus point for their endeavours. When their luck does finally change, the harsh lessons learned in defeat will become worthwhile. For Shannon, another run for honours looks ever more likely.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins: T Cregan pen 0-3; 7: T Cregan pen 0-6; 13: T Cregan pen 0-9; 18: C Kilroy pen 3-9; 21: T Cregan pen 3-12; 24: F O'Loughlin try, T Cregan conv 3-19; 33: D Gannon try, C Kilroy conv 10-19; 38: J Hearty try, C Kilroy conv 17-19; 43: C Kilroy pen 20-19; 46: T Cregan pen 20-22; 48: T Cregan try, T Cregan conv 20-29; 54: C Kilroy try 25-29; 72: T Cregan pen 25-32.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: C Kilroy; K Copeland, A O'Neill, P Graham, J Hearty; E Farrell, D O'Sullivan; A McSweeney, G McEvoy, I McLoughlin, D Gannon, V Ryan, R Rogers, T O'Donoghue, D Dillon. Replacements: R Molloy for O'Sullivan (63 mins); P Drew for Hearty (73 mins); G Fitzgerald for McLoughlin (77 mins).
Shannon: J Lacey; T Cregan, B Tuohy, E Cahill, D O'Donovan; A Thompson, F O'Loughlin, T Downes, J Flannery, G McNamara, B Buckley, T Hogan, G Noonan, J O'Connor, T Hayes. Replacements: M Lawlor for O'Loughlin (half-time); C McMahon for J O'Connor (55 mins); E Halvey for G Noonan (70 mins).
Referee: M Kilgore (Ulster).
