Shannon stay on course with steady flow of finals

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE/Division One final: Gerry Thornley talks to Shannon captain Tom Hayes about the reasons behind the club's success

No one has carried the burden for the excessive demands which the Celtic League has forced on everyone from the provinces more than Shannon. And no one has carried that load more than their captain and lock Tom Hayes.

Not alone has he played eight times for Munster in the Celtic League this season, but he's also been one of Shannon's five ever-presents in their 15 matches en route to tomorrow's AIB League final against traditional adversaries Cork Constitution.

Some weekends he had to double up: he played all of Munster's game against Gwent one Friday night and all of Shannon's game against Buccaneers the day after.

With Munster's increased Celtic League demands, Shannon have been obliged to use 33 players in the AIL this season, including 21 forwards. Yet they are in a third decider, seeking a remarkable sixth title. You wonder how on earth they can do this, and according to Hayes, "recruitment" has been the key.

"We've a very strong under-13s, who've won the league and cup this year, and the under-11s have won the league as well, so there's always some very good under-age teams coming through, and though they've struggled this year, ourselves and Con would usually have had the strongest under-20 teams."

One ventures that most club captains would have no clue as to how their under-11s and 13s are doing, but this is indicative of Shannon's togetherness. The recruitment from junior rugby continues up through the ranks, with the emergence last season of Eoin Cahill and Brian Tuohy this season giving Shannon a new, talented young midfield combination in a relatively settled and potent back line.

Juggling his resources better than ever has been Geoff Moylan, admittedly a more frustrated figure this season, but still one of the most impressive indigenous coaches on the circuit.

"We're actually a bit removed from Shannon teams of old in that we don't have the biggest team or certainly the biggest pack in the league," admits Hayes. "We don't do anything flash but if we get quick ruck ball we've a very good back line with the likes of Mossy (Lawlor) on the wing, Johnny Lacey, the AIL's top try scorer at full back, Eoin Cahill and Brian Tuohy, who are both quick and dangerous."

The top scorers in the top flight with 393 points, Shannon's only defeats this season were to UCD (away), Ballymena (home) and Cork Constitution (away). A key win was their typically obdurate, injury-time theft of four points away to Clontarf in round 11 on February 7th.

"That was a huge game for us because we were on our hands and knees for selection that day," chuckles Hayes. "Tony Buckley played in the second row that day and he'd been propping for two or three years. He was 20 stone in the second row. Danny Bedford came on and he had never togged out for an AIL match. John Lacey had gone off, George Murray a sub scrumhalf, came on the wing, and Dave O'Donoghue, a sub who had come on on the wing, had to go full back."

Tuohy scored the 85th-minute winning try in the last play after "George Murray had sold one of the most outrageous dummies you'll ever see, out of nowhere," recalls Hayes. "You could definitely count it as the turning point of the season for us."

Granted senior status in 1953/54 after several failed attempts, Shannon have been potmarking their 50th year of senior rugby in customary style, by winning all before them. They've won the Limerick Charity Cup (beating Garryowen), the Munster senior league for the third successive season (v Cork Con), and most recently, the Munster Senior Cup for a record fifth successive year, (v Garryowen).

"Workrate, basically," says Hayes of Shannon's formula for finals. "In finals it's just about who makes the least mistakes really and Shannon have had a steady flow of finals over the last 20 years, so no matter what final you're playing in there's always somebody on the team who has played in a final before. There's experience and continuity there, so on big match days fellas know how to make the right decisions."

About 4,000 having attended the semi-final, Shannon will be the best supported team on final day. "We've a big core support who've followed us everywhere, even up in Dungannon. For home matches we have one of the biggest support bases in the AIL, even if it's not what it used to be."

It's been six years since Hayes joined his brother John from his native Bruff, who made it into the AIL last weekend with a 26-16 win away to Coleraine. "The commitment is about the same," ventures Hayes, "but it's just the fact the AIL isn't what it used to be makes it a little bit more disheartening for players. People want to play a big stage, that's what sport is about."

Cue tomorrow.

"These are the days you play for," says Hayes, refuting any notion that the two standardbearers of the AIL might be a little weary of meeting. "It definitely means as much this year, especially as captain, even more so for family and friends."

It still matters, nowhere more so than in Shannon.