As Shannon fell to the ground in disbelief at Belfield, UCD, well, they celebrated as only students can. With the last kick of the game from tight to the left sideline, Eoghan Hickey had introduced Shannon to student rugby's lack of respect for tradition or reputation.
From his most difficult kick of the match and facing into a stiff wind, Hickey converted Philip Bredin's injury-time try to dramatically push UCD to victory in their first ever game in Division One. It was also their first win against the Limerick side since the league's inception.
It was quite an astonishing second period from UCD, who have taken eight years to become the first university side to compete at this level. Playing with the wind in the first half, they were 16-9 down at the interval. It seemed the visitors had only to turn the students with long balls and grind them down with the heavier pack to earn their first points.
Derek Hegarty, formerly of UCD, was in control at scrumhalf while Andrew Thompson had been more than competent with his kicking. The Shannon lineouts had also been outstanding for the first hour, their New Zealand second row Nathan Burgess and Brian Buckley dominating with ease.
But UCD refused to yield. Scrapping fiercely up front, their lively pack denied Shannon any quality first phase ball. Playing it tight until gaps opened up, the students continued to trail throughout the second half but Shannon were unable to put them out of sight.
A second-half try from right wing Gearoid Hayes and a penalty from Hickey to two from Thompson had UCD trailing 22-17 on 71 minutes. But a reply from captain and number eight David Quinlan eased Shannon into what seemed an unassailable 29-17 lead on 73 minutes. Then things started to go horribly wrong for the Shannon side, all of whom are aged 25 or younger.
UCD's full back Dermot O'Sullivan had been probing all through the match while Philip Bredin on the left wing also showed sharp instinct whenever there was space in front. But it was replacement back row Neil Coughlan who first dented Shannon's margin, capitalising on a sustained phase of pressure to take UCD to within five points.
One minute later Shannon's Brian Buckley was yellow carded for foul play and a Shannon scrum became a UCD penalty. Although the kick found touch deep in Shannon territory, it appeared that they could see out the final few minutes with their lead intact.
But in an outrageous expression of optimism, UCD ran the ball right to left from inside the Shannon half. It really looked as though there was nowhere to go until O'Sullivan, who had hit the line from full back, off-loaded to Bredin. The winger skillfully found the try line in the left corner to draw level at 29-29, leaving it to Hickey to cooly illustrate how to kick under pressure.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2 mins E Hickey pen 3-0; 15 Hickey pen 6-0; 17 A Thompson pen 6-3; 21 Thompson pen 9-3; 35 J O'Connor try, Thompson con 9-10; 38 D delaney drop gl 9-13; 40 Thompson pen 9-16. Half time. 42 Hickey pen 9-19; 58 G Hayes try 14-19; 59 Thompson pen 14-22; 71 Hickey pen 17-22; 73 D Quinlan try, Thompson con 17-29; 77 N Coughlan try, Hickey con 24-29; 83 mins P Bredin try, Hickey con 31-29.
UCD: D O'Sullivan; G Hayes, M Colling, S Moore (capt.), P Bredin; E Hickey, B O'Riordan; M Moynagh, D Blaney, I Lynham, P Callanan, C Keane, P Shanley, T Carter, N Breslin. Replacements: N Coughlan for Shanley (54 mins), M Venter for Lynham (57 mins), S McCarron for Moore (73 mins), J Montgomerie for Blaney (73 mins).
SHANNON: J Lacey; M McNamara, M Lawlor, A Thompson, C McMahon; D Delaney, D Hegarty; M Horan, F Roche, G McNamara, B Buckley, N Burgess, T Hayes, J O'Connor, D Quinlan (capt). Replacements: J Hadnett for Hayes (57 mins), G Stapleton for Lacey (40 mins). Yellow Card: B Buckley (78 mins)
Referee: M Kilgore (Ulster)
