SHANNON finished this match going up the gears, Old Wesley running out of petrol. The home side found themselves frequently groping at thin air as Shannon, first, stung with two early tries, then absorbed the pressure and finally ground them down in an exercise which allowed a hapless Old Wesley to play little part.

Sure, the Dublin side kicked smartly to the corners, largely through Adrian Hawe, and in brief flourishes had Shannon on the back heel and on their own line but it was as much an irritation to the Limerick champions as a real threat to their primacy.

Shannon's ferocious tackling up front and crisp running along the backline so severely opened up large corridors of space in the first 10 minutes that the game threatened to run away from Wesley long before it actually did, midway through the second period.

Andrew Thompson was largely responsible for making Old Wesley's defence look worse than it probably is, and with an impressive haul of 23 points (two trys, five conversions and a penalty), his personal contribution was pivotal in keeping his side's hopes of another league title alive and plunging Old Wesley into deeper relegation waters.

Shannon looked so well balanced that even Wesley's best laid plans became inert. Hawe was clearly playing to a game plan as he probed the corners, with Old Wesley hoping to pick up something from line outs so near the Shannon line.

But they received little but bone crunching tackles from Rory Sherril, Eddie Halvey, Anthony Foley and Alan Quinlan. Failing that, the finely composed Pat Murray was always at hand to tidy up. Wesley's pantry from there on was empty.

The Dublin side had set themselves a mountainous task in the first place by handing Shannon two tries within the opening 12 minutes. Thompson first galloped in after McGrath had fed him on the overlap, and then Murray happily took a pass almost on the line when McGrath might have been able to bundle over himself after another simple backline move. It set the tone for a match always within Shannon's reach.

Thompson converted both the trys and the visitors, hardly breaking sweat, were 0-14 ahead. Hawe, who played an intelligent game at out half, hit back with a penalty and a well taken drop goal coming up to the half hour, but Wesley always looked too vulnerable to be able to build anything enduring.

When a hastily booted ball off the ground by Thompson took a high bounce and left Conor Hoey several agonising inches out of reach, Thompson was at hand to again gather and steam away from the chasing pack. His conversion took Shannon to an unassailable 6-21 going into the break.

A Thompson penalty further stretched the lead, but a second successful drop goal and a penalty from Hawe brought his team to within 12 points just on the hour.

But Shannon again kicked up the tempo. Substitute Kieron Maher, who came on for prop James Hickey, picked up from a five yard scrum and crashed over for Shannon's fourth try, then Quinlan fed the excellent Sherrif three yards from the Wesley line and he dived over for the fifth under a stack of bodies.

It was clearly a fruitful day for Shannon although better discipline might have saved them a number of penalties, particularly in the first half.