And Shannon went..Phew!! - Report by Milo, Pics by Mags Murphy

The signs were ominous at 11am Sunday morning as 90 mins before kickoff, a dark screened bus came through the gates of Killarney rugby club and the team, already togged out, stepped off looking for somewhere to warm up.

They brought with them great support, a strong coaching background team and four years experience.

And to meet them was a team with a mere four months of coaching, so it certainly looked bleak at the outset. But each game the girls have played seems to be standing to them and it certainly showed as the ref blew for the game to start. Before Shannon could launch any attack, the girls were in on top of them. It was soon clear that Shannon were in a bit of trouble as the girls fought for everything.

It was from pressure that ten minutes into the game, Killarney earned a scrum and from a set move, Niamh did brilliantly to get past her opposite winger and touch down in the corner.

Shannon were awestruck as this wasn’t expected. It was through some gritty determination, that indeed and to everyone’s amazement, except their coach, that they actually led the game up to the half..what an outstanding result, but could they possibly keep it up for another 25 minutes.

All sides have a purple patch and as Killarney started slowly in the first 15 minutes of the second half, it was inevitable that such a good side as Shannon would punish any lap in concentration and, so they did and the girls were soon 17-5 points down, and it looked like the floodgates would open.

But the passion to compete and be the best they can be was still in this young outfit, and back they came having being shocked into action!

Robyn, Bronagh, Holly, Katie, Melisa, Kate and Niamh, as our backline, did a sterling job defending and attacking for the last ten minutes, but could Killarney come back from such a score. Again, from an ensuing penalty, a set piece was set up to punch a hole near Shannon’s try line. As it came out from the ruck, it was player of the match, Ella who took on three players and carried them over the line for a 17-10 scoreline with six minutes to go.

From the kick off, it was again relentless pressure from Killarney that forced errors from Shannon. Up the field they went with the forwards of Ella, Molly, Jasmine, Clodagh, Nell, Shauna, Joanne and captain of the day, Fia, though tired, were giving their all only for the powerpack that is Katie, to touch down for 17-15 with one minute left on the clock.

But, alas, there it was to end, but when the match was over, Shannon’s coach declared that Killarney were a better outfit and that a draw would have been the fairest result, a high compliment indeed from such a prestigious club. Shannon knew they were lucky. The girls can be immensely proud of their effort and with more experience will prove one tough, talented outfit!

A big thank you all the ladies who helped out with the catering and making Shannon feel welcome and a special mention to Liam who is giving his time to the coach and the girls.

Kudos to all...