Corinthians comfortable in making it back-to-back wins to silence doubters

Corinthians 30 Shannon 16

If Corinthians want to find doubters, they’ll find plenty of them in their own province as, for some reason, not a lot of people outside of Corinthian Park have got to grips with the fact that here lies a Connacht club side with the potential to really make an impact on the national scene for the first time in over a decade.

Rivalries run deep in Connacht, so there is that. Plus, last year, they didn’t exactly stamp their authority over the Galway derby in Division 2a, so many felt, in purely head-to-head terms, that they were still second fiddle in Galway despite their promotion.

Any such notions should be parked at this stage. They are operating at a different level and looking like they belong. The hope is that this big step forward will drive Galwegians to better things and also push the province’s leading club, Buccaneers, in bringing club rugby forward in the West.

On Saturday, Shannon, nine times All Ireland league champions since its inception in 1991 and outside of the top flight for the first time, came to visit Corinthian Park for the first time. The aristocrats against the upstarts and the men from Limerick just couldn’t get to grips with it all.

Corinthians had the notorious Cloonacauneen wind at their backs in that first-half, and an 18-years-old fly-half with nerves of steel and a boot equipped with a laser-guided targeting system. Sean O’Hagan kicked three penalties in the first half hour, all from around the 10 metre line for a 9-0 lead.

Yet for a period of about 15 minutes, the tide turned and Shannon scored 10 points without reply. Tadgh Bennett kicked a penalty and then converted a try born from hard yards in the pack and finished off by loosehead prop Niall Horan.

Half-time was approaching and a one point deficit turning into a gale was not a good place to be – -thoughts that maybe the round one victory over Dublin University had been a false dawn popped up. How wrong we were.

The home scrum set the tone, winning a penalty through Connacht star Denis Buckley – who had just come on – and Finlay Bealham. The kick to the corner set the platform and Michael Murphy’s brilliant pass which drew the defence, two phases after the lineout, paved the way for big Eoghan Masterson to thunder through and score.

 For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.