A HAT-TRICK of first-half tries from flying winger Ciaran O'Boyle helped resurgent Garryowen end Shannon's impressive 14-game winning home run in the All-Ireland League before a sizeable attendance at a sunny Thomond Park yesterday.

And just as significant for the Garryowen faithful, the 19-11 victory saw the Light Blues exact at least some revenge on their city rivals for their dramatic AIL semi-final defeat last May. Then Shannon wrenched victory from Garryowen's grasp through David Delaney's late penalty.

Yesterday's victory was a significant one for Paul Cunningham's Garryowen side and not just for the bragging rights that went with it. Defeat would have seen the Dooradoyle side slip to their second reverse after just four series of games and adrift of the pacesetters.

Garryowen had winger O'Boyle largely to thank for this crucial success. O'Boyle struck for tries in the 5th, 10th and 35th minutes to help Garryowen into a sizeable 19-8 half-time lead.

The second half never matched the excellent quality of the first, with Andrew Thompson's 50th-minute goal for Shannon completing the scoring. The prolific Thompson also grabbed the champions opening half scores with a try and further penalty goal.

While Garryowen will be pleased with the win, they will realise that they also scored an impressive regular season win over Shannon last season before coming unstuck at the business end of the competition. There was much to admire in the winners' play.

Out-half Cillian O'Boyle, twin brother of Ciaran, was a constant threat while out-half Conan Doyle controlled the game well.

Shannon's pack, led by prop Tony Buckley, enjoyed the upperhand for long spells, but failed to translate that possession into sufficient scores.

Both sides were forced to lineout without several AIL 'regulars' due to Munster's Magners League tie with the Llanelli Scarlets.

Among those marked absent from the Garryowen line-up due to provincial commitments were lock Chris Wyatt, scrum-half Gerry Hurley and out-half Eoghan Hickey. Shannon had to plan without the likes of hooker Sean Cronin and second-row Donnacha Ryan.

The latest derby match was played in ideal weather conditions. O'Boyle grabbed the first of his tries as early as the fifth minute when he broke through a porous Shannon defence before touching down in the right corner.

Five minutes later he had his second after intercepting a pass on the half-way line and showing an excellent turn of foot to outstrip the home side's defence. Conor Kilroy's successful conversion saw Garryowen into a healthy 12-0 lead. The large home support had something to cheer about on 20 minutes when Thompson landed a penalty.

But while Shannon shaded the forward exchanges, the Garryowen back-line was constantly probing for openings.

O'Boyle was decidedly unlucky not to complete his hat-trick early in the second quarter, but the referee judged that he had knocked the ball on in the process of scoring.

Resilient Shannon were right back in the game in the 34th minute with their opening try. Prop Buckley created the opening with a powerful surge. The ball was eventually fed out to Thompson who beat the retreating Garryowen players to his own neatlyplaced grubber kick.

At 12-8, the game was very much still in the balance. However, O'Boyle gave the visitors considerable breathing space in the 35th minute when he used his pace to touch down following an astute kick-ahead by Argentinean-born centre Federico Quaglia. Kilroy again added the extras and the Light Blues were well in control at half-time.

The only score of a disappointing second half arrived in the 70th minute when Thompson converted a penalty. Shannon never really threatened to grab a bonus point late on at the game ended with Garryowen on the attack.

SHANNON D O'Donovan; M Tuohy, A Finn, M Lawler, S Kelly; A Thompson, F McNamara; L Hogan, TJ Hickey, T Buckley, P O'Brien, F Walsh, P O'Connor, N O'Brien, D Quinlan Subs F Roche for Hickey, 50 mins; T Bennett for Finn, 62 mins; A Meany for O'Brien, 75 mins GARRYOWEN C Kilroy; Ciaran O'Boyle, K Hartigan, F Quaglia, A O'Loughlin; C Doyle, Cillian O'Boyle; L Og Casey, D Varley, E McGovern, M Melbourne, E Mackey, P Neville, D Sherry, P Malone Subs D Lavery for Casey (injured), 51 mins; A Kingsley for K Hartigan, 70 mins; F McKenna for Sherry, 79 mins