Mick Galwey's men recovered from a lacklustre start, which saw them ship 10 points without reply in the opening half an hour, to hit their opponents for 26 unanswered points of their own in the second and third quarters.

During that impressive spell Shannon's prolific outhalf Andrew Thompson bagged 16 points, including a fine individual try 15 minutes into the second half.

The champions also had tries from Man of the Match, David O'Donovan and number eight David Quinlan.

Despite having 25 minutes with which to do it, Shannon were unable to cross the Lansdowne try-line again and so a bonus point eluded the Limerick side.

Indeed, Shannon had to withstand a strong Lansdowne rally in the closing quarter of the game, included a 70th minute try from replacement Gavin O'Meara, before clinching their eighth win of the campaign.

Despite dominating the early exchanges, Lansdowne had to wait until the 20th minute for their opening score when powerful prop Paul Doran-Jones barged his way over from close range.

Robbie Dolan's successful conversion and a 29th minute penalty goal had Lansdowne into a sizeable 10-0 lead.

Shannon showed the hallmark of champions in the 10 minutes coming up to halftime.

Out-half Thompson began the revival with a 35th minute penalty goal, before the home side struck for two tries in as many minutes.

Number eight Quinlan scored the first following a storming run from splendid team captain, Colm McMahon.

Centre John Clogan created the opening two minutes later for full-back O'Donovan to score the second following a 40 metre run.

Shannon quickly set about cementing their 13-10 halftime lead.

Thompson added a 52nd minute penalty goal and a try three minutes later.

Both sides emptied their respective benches at the start of the final quarter.

The replacements provided a new impetus into Lansdowne's play and they were well deserving of O'Meara's late try, following a fine break by centre Dolan.

SHANNON D O'Donovan, Pat O'Connor, J Manuel, J Clogan, A Finn; A Thompson, F McNamara; C Costigan, TJ Hickey, K Grif"n;

P O'Brien, F Walsh; Phil O'Connor, C McMahon (Capt), D Quinlan. Replacements:

M Tuohy for Finn (50 mins), T Bennett for Manuel (56 mins), L Hogan for Costigan, J Cronin for Hickey (both 58 mins), G Noonan for Phil O'Connor (67 mins).

LANSDOWNE A McCormack; N Walsh, G Stafford, R Dolan, B McGeever; M Ashford, D Coughlan; J Lyne, K Corrigan, P DoranJones; A Maher, D Toner; D Lavin (Capt), V O'Dowd, S McCarthy. Replacements: G O'Meara for Corrigan (half-time), S Whelan for Coughlan, A Geraghty for Ashford (both 63 mins), K Cleere for Lyne (66 mins).

Referee D Wilkinson (Ulster)