Winning habit sees Shannon through

Sometimes, you look at Shannon and you wonder. How on earth have they become the best club side in the eight-season history of the AIB All-Ireland League? The conundrum seems particularly acute on days like this. At Temple Hill on Saturday, they huffed and puffed in a game that could have gone either way and yet, somehow you always knew, they'd get there again.

It's not as if they are a collection of world-beaters from one to 15. Far from it. Of course, they have a peerless back five up front. Players like Mick Galwey, Eddie Halvey and Anthony Foley have a telepathic understanding on the pitch. And they, along with Alan Quinlan, made their trademark drives.

When Shannon picked up the tempo in response to Con's early try - Gavin Russell tapping penalties, Andrew Thompson taking a quick throw-in - the big runners up front picked up the cudgel. We waited for the expected response, but it never materialised.

No one, apart from Galwey, was immune from the basic errors - more often in execution than thought - which undermined about four decent half-chances in either period. In open play from attacking, ruck ball, Halvey and Quinlan each over-kicked to the corner, while Foley, untypically, knocked on when perhaps considering doing likewise. Jim Galvin kicked and moved the ball erratically, and even their defensive midfield rock, Rhys Ellison, unusually, threw out two wild passes which put paid to promising moves.

Overall, as coach Pat Murray said: "We played in fits and starts." But how often have we heard that one? So what's the secret? When this reporter once asked Galwey what this intangible Shannon ingredient was he said simply: "We don't panic."

So when Shannon lined up for a 56th-minute kick-off after going 11-6 down, their body language spoke volumes. That upwardly mobile young buck Quinlan - who's perhaps a touch too mouthy for the senior pros' liking - began exhorting those around him. Halvey and Foley turned to him, almost irritated, and gently spread their hands as if to say "cool it".

Galwey went up the touchline and won the restart; Foley charged through the middle from an ensuing scrum; the tackler, Ronan O'Gara, failed to roll away and the additional 10 metres for dissent made Galvin's kick even easier.

There was still some work to be done. When Brian O'Meara was harshly penalised for a delayed put-in, Russell used the big men as decoys for John Hayes to charge up the middle and then Russell teed up Galvin for the drop goal. Contrary to initial Con complaints of illegality, the requisite two passes had been made since the tap penalty - a post-match point their coach, Ray Coughlan, duly accepted.

Cork Constitution still gave it a right go, but Shannon largely played out the remaining time in home territory.

With the wind behind him, Galvin kicked long - not always very effectively and often down the throat of the dancing Matthew McLoughlin, or the nimble Anthony Horgan and David O'Brien, so inviting the counterattack. But John Lacey and Andrew Thompson followed up and, invariably, Ellison was behind them to make the crucial second tackle and so pin Con back. No, Shannon don't panic.

Another question that is often asked of them is: Can they maintain their hunger? In truth, it's probably not a problem. The motivational juices are kept flowing by little changes here and there. Now it's Anthony Foley's turn to captain them, with a few changes on the pitch and in the dug-out to keep things ticking over as well.

The desire, then, remains undimmed. That, coupled with the winning habit, saw them through one of those decidedly off-key, edgy, error-strewn days when, mentally, they possibly made too much of their traditionally-difficult Con foes.

Two clean rucks in the first 11 minutes were a barometer of what was to come - little continuity. Whereas the Shannon tacklers rolled away from man and ball, Con, it seemed, were the guiltier of the two in killing ball and often without punishment from Leo Mayne.

Significantly, a rare spell of sustained play led to Con's breakthrough try - indeed the only one of the game. When O'Gara swept up behind his midfield and switched the focus of attack, he cleverly laid the ball back a few yards when tackled without support so O'Meara could switch the attack again.

Neat hands from Alan Byrne and O'Brien enabled Horgan to plunder his second try in successive matches by stepping inside Lacey. The speedy Lacey will have to work on his defence if he's to progress further.

That, though, was a rarity in a poor game played on a spring-like day, but on a spongy surface. A "bitterly disappointed" Coughlan lamented one that got away, and "the fact that we didn't get the opportunity to use possession. There's definite try-scoring potential there all right," he added, but readily accepted that "we didn't get the ball away."

Here the absence of a genuine outside centre, John Kelly, hurt them more than any of their other injury problems. (Whereas Con have used 29 players, with only seven starting every game, Shannon have used 21, with 10 regulars.) Many of their moves came to a halt with Niall Murray, and Alan Byrne's straight running made bigger inroads - but essentially the flaw was in being compelled to play two inside centres.

Still, Con would never have lived with Shannon given a similar stretching of their resources even a year ago. Jerry Murray, Frank Sheehan and Conor Kehelly had big games up front and as Murray conceded: "Con were the first team to put it up to us for 80 minutes this season. I'm delighted the lads showed that bit of character."