Sheehan, younger brother of Leinster and Ireland star Dan, was central to a five-try first-half performance from Adam Craig’s men, while captain and player of the match Jack Kelleher was influential throughout in the back-row, alongside Bradley Luney.
The return of the club international match between the Celtic nations – six years since Ireland last retained the Dalriada Cup, and 20 years on from the inaugural clash – provided a showcase of the best that the Energia All-Ireland League has to offer.
Both teams attacked with great gusto during a breathless opening quarter, with Scotland Clubs getting on top with an Andrew Mitchell brace to cancel out Sheehan’s deftly taken ninth-minute opener.
However, Craig’s side went through the gears to score four times between the 23rd and 36th minutes – Adam Maher and Ronan Waters had run-ins from inside the opposition ’22, and the ever-impressive Sheehan took his own haul to three.
The unerring Conor Kelly mopped up with the conversions, giving the hosts a handsome 35-12 half-time lead. They were too far in front with Aran Egan crossing in the 55th minute, although tries from Mitchell, Gregor Christie, and Archie Barbour made it a nine-point game in the end.
Scotland were the early aggressors, retaining possession and attacking at pace with Bobby Beattie leading the charge. Their skipper Blair Macpherson went close to scoring but was denied by a brilliant rip by Seán Rigney.
Building on No 8 Luney’s break from deep, David Begley got the upper hand for a scrum penalty. Sheehan then delighted the home crowd with a superb finish, showing his footballing skills to nudge a Kelly kick through on the hoof and score with a pinpoint pick-up.
However, following Kelly’s conversion, Scotland roared back with a couple of line-breaks. The first one, from Macpherson, started a sweeping attack that ended with big winger Jamie Shedden holding off the defence and feeding Mitchell to run in from a few metres out.
Dwain Patterson’s missed conversion left the scoreboard showing 7-5, but the Scots were soon causing damage through Ruairidh Leishman on the opposite wing. The Irish defence was having to work hard to avoid conceding more metres.
Scotland struck again just past the quarter-hour mark, Mitchell slipping his way through to give Patterson a conversion from straight in front. No 8 Macpherson broke again off the restart, with Beattie providing the support to bring them swiftly back into the red zone.
Ireland captain Jack Kelleher is presented with the Dalriada cup by, from left, Energia head of Brand Amy O’Shaughnessy, IRFU committee member John McKibbon and IRFU committee member Dave Ryan Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
In response, Seán French and Fionn Gilbert came more into it as ball-carriers for Ireland, the latter using his strength to break the defensive line. When Ireland got the ball to Aaron Sexton on the stand side in the 23rd minute, his pace paved the way for try number two.
The former Ulster winger connected with Myles Carey on his inside, and Cork Constitution scrum-half Maher was trailing him to finish it off under the posts. Shedden was very fortunate to receive just a warning for a high tackle on the try scorer, before Kelly converted for a 14-12 scoreline.
A rampaging Sexton soon went close to scoring an excellent individual try, but Scotland did just enough to deny him. Shedden came up with a crucial turnover, only for Luney to steal a subsequent lineout to keep the hosts inside the Scottish 22.
A further bout of forward pressure led to Sheehan completing his brace, expertly muscling his way over in the 29th minute with Kelleher on the latch. Kelly’s conversion gave his side some additional breathing space at nine points up.
Scotland were beginning to concede more penalties in defence, the latest one coming after a Kelleher turnover. With Ireland really finding their groove in attack, Kelly’s half-break set up Watters to raid in under the posts for another seven-pointer.
Craig’s charges extended their purple patch with a fifth converted try. Gilbert showed impressive hands near halfway, his pass back inside unleashing Conor Rankin through the middle, and Sheehan’s support run was rewarded with his third score of the night.
Armed with a 23-point advantage, Ireland soaked up some early pressure on the resumption with Gilbert stealing a lineout. Ten minutes in, Scotland pounced with a well-executed maul earning a penalty before Beattie used the advantage to put Mitchell powering in under the posts.
The home side almost replied just a few phases later, but the newly introduced Adam La Grue was denied a try by a forward pass. Scotland conceded a scrum penalty, though, and after the Irish maul threatened, Egan delivered a top-class close-in finish, scrambling over past three defenders.
Ireland’s Aaron Sexton makes a break at Energia Park Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Credit to Scotland, their backs continued to threaten out wide. Off the restart, Glenn Bryce made a break, linking with replacement Barbour whose pass back inside went off Bryce’s fingertips but scrum-half Christie snapped it up to reduce the deficit to 42-26.
As Ireland threatened early in the final quarter, they pressed for a seventh try, the ball going forward from Maher to deny Luney what would have been a deserved score. The Irish bench was duly emptied with the final changes up front and behind the scrum.
As Craig’s charges continued to hold onto the territory, Instonians captain David Whitten unfortunately had to come off injured, joining Carey who had earlier hobbled off. With all their replacements made, they ended the contest playing with 14 men.
Luney produced a terrific turnover at the breakdown to break up some Scottish momentum. A second penalty and another radar-like touchfinder from Kelly set up a try-scoring chance, but it was lost when the maul was sacked legally.
Scotland were in the mood for more, particularly their playmaking centres Mitchell and Beattie. Replacements Callum Anderson and Sam Wallace connected neatly on the left wing, sending Barbour over in the 78th minute.
With renewed energy to their play, the Macpherson-led visitors threatened to squeeze in another try before the final whistle, using their numerical advantage to break downfield and build more phases in attack.
Ireland showed plenty of defensive grit to keep them out of their ’22, maintaining a firm grip on their 11th victory in 18 meetings with the Scots as a scrum free-kick allowed Sam Owens to kick the ball dead.
IRELAND CLUB XV: Conor Rankin (Ballynahinch); Seán French (Cork Constitution), Myles Carey (St Mary’s College), Aran Egan (Terenure College), Aaron Sexton (Ballynahinch); Conor Kelly (Clontarf), Adam Maher (Cork Constitution); David Begley (Young Munster), Bobby Sheehan (Lansdowne), Luke Masters (Cork Constitution), Seán Rigney (Terenure College), Fionn Gilbert (Clontarf), Jack Kelleher (Cork Constitution) (capt), Ronan Watters (St Mary’s College), Bradley Luney (Ballynahinch). Replacements: Claytan Milligan (Ballynahinch), Marcus Hanan (Terenure College), Adam Tuite (Terenure College), Bailey Faloon (Young Munster), David Whitten (Instonians), Sam Owens (Clontarf), Tadhg Bird (Clontarf), Adam La Grue (Terenure College).
SCOTLAND CLUBS: Glenn Bryce (Stirling County); Jamie Shedden (Ayr), Andrew Mitchell (Hawick), Bobby Beattie (Ayr), Ben Pickles (Selkirk); Dwain Patterson (Kelso), Gregor Christie (Currie Chieftains); Jack Dobie (Melrose), Fraser Renwick (Hawick), Struan Cessford (Heriot’s Rugby), Angus Runciman (Melrose), Oscar Baird (Ayr), Ruairidh Leishman (Heriot’s Rugby), Tim Brown (Ayr), Blair Macpherson (Ayr) (capt). Replacements: Elliot Young (Heriot’s Rugby), Jamie Drummond (Ayr), Dan Gamble (Kelso), Ruaraidh Hart (Stirling County), Sam Wallace (Heriot’s Rugby), Euan McKirdy (GHA), Callum Anderson (Selkirk), Archie Barbour (Kelso).
REFEREE: Cai Lewis (WRU)