How quickly a team can transform from one originally tipped to credibly challenge for the AIB league to the St Mary's side that turned up for duty at Thomond Park yesterday.
Coach Brent Pope was in danger of self-inflicted concussion as his head shook vigorously from side to side throughout in frustrated disbelief. St Mary's have not won in their last three outings.
Pope may justifiably point to the number of inexperienced players he has had to introduce as provincial players remain unavailable but this, by some distance, was St Mary's poorest performance of the season, one that Shannon had little difficulty in containing once the match was settled shortly after half time.
Even the nature of Melvyn McNamara's contest-ending try drew gasps, not least of all for the large hole that appeared from nowhere, Star Trek-style, to allow him run in from 15 metres out for 21-3.
The ball fed left to right had found the right wing static and apparently with little space or momentum. But as McNamara accelerated, the cover, lose and inattentive, watched him push aside Graeme Ingles and touch down for his side's second try.
Until then it had been a series of penalty kicks, largely missed by St Mary's Barry Lynn and Mark McHugh and broken by Shannon's best move of the match which ended with captain David Quinlan grounding amidst a pile of bodies.
That first try started just inside the St Mary's half on 30 minutes, the ball being moved through open side Colm McMahon for the initial burst, with Brian Buckley, John Lacey, Redmond Collins and finally Quinlan all playing their handling roles perfectly.
St Mary's, although exuberant, willing and committed, were too light, conceded easy yardage, spilled often in the tackle and gave away too many penalties and ball in their own line outs.
Their energy struck out all over the place but rarely in the same direction or at the same time. The result was a performance that lacked any discernible pattern and one that a meat and veg performance from Shannon could capably deal with. Shannon were stronger in the scrum, with Gary McNamara, Colm Tucker and Franck Roche in the front row comfortable throughout, while Brian Buckley was at his rampaging best in the second row.
For St Mary's, fullback Mark McHugh was forced into a relentless stream of cover work and last-man tackles, which he did effectively but with the Shannon attack coming from the most unlikely places the peroxide blond McHugh was stretched.
Left wing Tom Cregan, Shannon's kicker, was largely accurate, kicking his side to 6-0 after 15 minutes before adding a conversion off Quinlan's try and another penalty for 16-3 at half time.
A second half penalty 10 minutes after McNamara's try had Shannon 24-3 ahead and from that point, the match steadily declined, Shannon content to absorb St Mary's best shots and watch them punch themselves out.
Indeed the last five minutes framed the wayward efforts of the Dublin side with two successive lineouts fluffed, one from five metres out and a litany of ball spilled. As Shannon lay back the errors had several in the 500 crowd guffawing. St Mary's know this one is a low point and probably realise the scoreline could have been even more disfiguring.
And Shannon? Well, they were more organised and with the likes of John Lacey, McNamara, Andrew Thompson and Quinlan around to guide these points were well earned but not without their opponents help.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins - T Cregan pen 3-0; 15 - T Cregan pen 6-0; 30 - D Quinlan try, Cregan con 13-0; 37 - B Lynn pen 13-3; T Cregan 16-3. Half-time 16-3. 43 - M McNamara try 21-3; 52 - T Cregan pen 24-3
SHANNON: J Lacey; M McNamara, M Lawlor, A Thompson, T Cregan; N McNamara, D Hegarty; G McNamara, C Tucker, F Roche, B Buckley, T Hayes, R Collins, C McMahon, D Quinlan (capt.). Replacements - J Blaney for Tucker 60 mins; T Buckley for Roche (60); M Hayes for G McNamara (70); J Davis for A Thompson, N Burgess for T Hayes (75), F O'Loughlin for Lacey (78).
ST MARY'S: M McHugh; P Dunne, K Lewis, G Gannon, G Ingles; B Lynn, C McPhillips; P Tucket, M Duggan, D Clare, A McCarthy, G Logan, M Brown, K O'Brien, M O'Shaughnessy.Replacements - K Jennings for O'Brien 40 mins; S Conlon for Brown (59); J O'Connor for Tucker (60)
Referee: T Redmond (Leinster)
