Bullish Shannon see red

You wave a red rag at them at your peril. Bad enough that the four-in-a-row champions were fighting for their AIB League lives, that it was a league farewell to the Thomond Park faithful, that the Buccaneers pack came with a reputation, but reports of a sticker campaign doing the rounds in the midlands which billed this game as "next champions against ex-champions" was asking for it. Shannon snorted, stomped their feet and came out charging to blow Buccaneers away.

They've been around the block now so often that they can negotiate the route blindfolded. Suffice to say, that all the Shannon management could do was keep things ticking over in this most demanding of representative seasons in the hope that they would still be in the hunt around now. They like a challenge.

It's panned out that way, if only just. Having provided the bulk of the Munster team, several of them have played 30-odd games already this season. But like the horse who won't break into a gallop for much of the trek, once, homeward bound, he sees the stables then he's off.

"Buccs forgot one thing, they still had to come to the Mecca," was a popular post-match gloat from the supporters, even if there was little gloating inside the dressing room door. After the ritual post-match blast of There is an Isle, the doors were, unusually, closed for a private talk at which the Shannon management reminded the players of how they reacted to the 35-0 demolition of Lansdowne - by losing the next three matches.

Then Pat Murray emerged to claim it was only a win, and they still had to beat Cork Constitution - a mantra repeated by his suitably unexcitable players. They'll be wearing blinkers for the next fortnight.

Nevertheless, on days like this, there must be an inner belief that they remain the best. Before the game, Murray told his pack that Buccaneers had been stealing their thunder, that the Shannon eight were still superior, but that it was up to them to prove it on this day.

A fired-up Marcus Horan began and completed the rout to become Shannon's leading try scorer with five. On abrasively following through in a failed attempt to win the touchdown to his own chip ahead after his first try, he was yellow-carded. He sailed close to the wind, at the next breakdown intemperately kicking the ball away when whistled back, at which point we had the sight of wise old Eddie Halvey attempting to calm him down. A Kodak moment.

But, according to Murray, there was never a thought about removing him, for the Irish under-21 loose-head was setting the tempo, as he has been doing for the last few games. After a jittery start - as John Deegan struggled to find his radar and Buccaneers's backs spun the ball with some elan - the rest took their cue, settled down and all had good games.

Helped by a couple of early penalties against a bemused Martin Cahill at scrums, Shannon began dominating the line-outs where Eddie Halvey was peerless. His presence so disrupted Buccaneers's throw that they barely launched one of their famous mauls.

As for their trademark continuity, Shannon's aggressive fringe tackling - indeed everywhere around the pitch - forced Buccs into more forced turnovers in contact than they would normally cough up in a month or two; preventing them from recycling the ball beyond second phase much of the time. Here John Hayes led the way with some bear-hug tackles which smothered the ball carrier to the point of suffocation.

With the ball, the Shannon target runners queued up and ran onto popped passes with unerring timing - their rhythm undisturbed by Frank McNamara replacing Simon Johnson - as they breached the gain line through the Buccaneers midfield and then recycled to attack either way from there. There wasn't too much fancy backs stuff, as an otherwise eager Shannon tore up the park in the chase for Jim Galvin's tempting up-and-unders.

McNamara had a softish try when breaking blind from a five-metre scrum and taking Anthony Foley's one-handed pop pass from the base. Buccaneers fell asleep. With Thompson finding his range to push Shannon out of sight either side of the break, a second-half lull was ended by the pick of the Shannon tries.

Under pressure from Halvey, Martyn Steffert failed to gather a slightly overthrown delivery from Joe McVeigh which the quick-witted Foley gathered. He and Quinlan took off with the Buccaneers backs in opposition. Foley drew Simon Allnutt and passed to Quinlan, who in turn drew Mike Devine and returned the ball inside to Foley. Still with 45 metres to go, he proved he's no slouch and all the while aware of everything around him, timed the dive to perfection before the line in taking the tackle from the covering Robert Lee to score wide out.

Buccaneers would gladly have settled for a must-win final-day home game (against Lansdowne) for a place in the semi-finals at the outset and will now be grateful for a three-week break to heal the psychological scars.

On days like this, even stunned, the opposition can only shrug their shoulders. "My worst fears came home to roost," said Eddie O'Sullivan phlegmatically. "Shannon in Thomond Park, at this time of the year, and playing for their lives. I don't know if anybody could have lived with them today."

Saturday's message was simple enough. Shannon are back.

Scoring sequence: 11 mins Horan try 5-0; 23: Thompson penalty 8-0; 34: McNamara try 13-0; 36: Thompson penalty 16-0; 40: Thompson penalty 19-0; 50: Allnutt penalty 19-3; 62: Thompson penalty 22-3; 74: Foley try, Thompson conversion 29-3; 80: Horan try, Thompson conversion 36-3.

Shannon: Jason Hayes; A Thompson, C Burke, C McMahon, B Roche; J Galvin, S Johnson; M Horan, J Deegan, N Healy, M Galwey, John Hayes, A Quinlan, A Foley, E Halvey. Replacements: F McNamara for Johnson (30 mins), D Kirby for Healy (76 mins).

Buccaneers: R Lee; M Devine, O Cobbe, C Gormley, A Connolly; S Allnutt, S McIvor; J Screene, J McVeigh, M Cahill, B Rigney, C Rigney, Des Rigney, M Steffert, E Brennan. Replacements: T Stuart-Trainor for Connolly (44 mins), Donal Rigney for C Rigney (63 mins).

Referee: A Lewis (Leinster).