YOU have to hand it to Shannon. Ten times since the inception of the play-off system they've played in either a semifinal or final of AIB Division One and following yesterday's ultimately facile victory over a plucky if naive Clontarf at Lansdowne Road, they still have an unblemished record when it matters. Put simply, they're the knock-out kings of Irish rugby and if you delve into the record books even further you'll find that the Parish club haven't lost any sort of final at senior level, be it AIB League, Munster Senior Cup, Limerick Charity Cup or Munster Senior League since 1989. With yesterday's victory, that's 27 finals in a row they've won.

They were clearly the better team yesterday, making a mockery of Clontarf 's favourites' tag heading into the game. Up front Trevor Hogan (playing his third game in seven days), Padraic O'Brien and Donncha Ryan were wonderfully abrasive in everything they did, while hooker Sean Cronin was a double hero for his first-half try and his second-half trysaving tackle on Derek Keane.

David Delaney also gave a close to perfect display at outhalf, while the introduction of both Alan Quinlan and Keogh in the second-half did a lot to cement Shannon's position.

The game started as it was set to go on, with Daragh O'Shea missing an early penalty for Clontarf and Shannon turning the screw soon after.

There seemed to be little threat when David Delaney swung the ball across the line on half-way but the pacy Cronin managed to beat James Downey on the burst and the break was on. The number two found Brian Tuohy, who in turn found Andrew Thompson on the left wing and as the cover approached, the ball was switched back inside to Cronin who put the finish on a superb move. Delaney's added the conversion.

The rest of the half was a pretty even affair all told. Clontarf would have scored a try had Niall O'Brien spotted Derek Keane outside him having taken a sumptuous line off a Peter O'Brien pass, but Shannon's defence was excellent and Tarf 's attacking forays were all too rare. A penalty from O'Shea on 16 minutes did get the Dublin side on the scoreboard after Delaney had strayed offside in midfield, but the Shannon out-half made up for his indiscretion by landing two penalties, on 19 and 37 minutes, from close to halfway to give his side a 10-point advantage at the interval.

Moments after the break, Cronin made his second big intervention of the game and INPHO/LORRAINE O'SULLIVAN it was just as crucial as his first. Clontarf winger Derek Keane did will to intercept Eoin Cahill's pass on half-way and it looked as though nobody would catch him on the way to the line. But Cronin didn't give up the chase and somehow, after passing his own winger Pat O'Connor on the way, he hunted Keane down and tackled him just before the line. It was some spectacle. From there, there was only going to be one winner. Mick Galwey brought Quinlan and Keogh into the fray and the Limerick side's power up front began to tell.

The contest was effectively over when Eoin Cahill, taking a nice line off a Delaney pass close-in, crossed the line on 58 minutes to put Shannon 18-3 in front and after the out-half stretched the lead with the conversion, Andrew Thompson's popped up on Delaney's shoulder to bring his All-Ireland League points total to 999 points. It's just a pity he wasn't allowed take the convert, especially on the day he won his eight AIB League title with Shannon. After a rake of substitutions, there was still time for David O'Donovan to latch onto a loose ball and bring Shannon's winning margin to 27 points. The same number as their winning sequence in cup finals.

SHANNON M Lawlor; P O'Connor, B Tuohy, E Cahill, A Thompson; D Delaney, F McNamara;

L Hogan, S Cronin, G McNamara, T Hogan, P O'Brien, C McMahon (c), J O'Connor, D Ryan Subs A Quinlan for McMahon, Keogh for O'Brien, 54mins; D O'Donovan for O'Connor, 74mins; T Downes for Cronin, TJ Hickey for Hogan, 80mins; J Clogan for O'Connor and M Tuohy for Thompson, 81mins

CLONTARF D O'Shea; N O'Brien, M Hewitt, J Downey, D Keane; P O'Brien, F O'Loughlin; J Wickham (c), N Carson, R Sweeney, A Trenier, A Wood, J Ellison, D O'Brien, P Purdue Subs M Rantz-McDonald for Keane, 47mins; A O'Donnell for Wickham, K Dorrian for Sweeney, 58 mins; D Quinn for Purdue, 74mins; P Whateley for Carson, 78mins, D Geraghty for O'Loughlin, 80mins Referee A Rolland (IRFU)

AIB LEAGUE DIVISION 3 FINAL REPORT, PAGE 28