St. Colmcilles 2-07 Skryne 2-09

Skryne overcame a gallant St. Colmcilles team in their favourite hunting ground Pairc Tailteann on Monday evening to claim their second League title of the year. The last time the Skryne Minors stepped onto the hallowed turf of the Meath headquarters, they ran out easy winners against Simonstown Gaels to win the Division 2 Spring League. They had to fight a lot harder this evening against a very strong St. Colmcilles side to claim the Division A trophy.

The opening half was dominated by Skryne, but St. Colmcilles bagged a goal to stay within touching distance at half-time. The Cilles were first out of the traps with a point almost straight from the kick-off from their full-forward who finished well. Indeed their full-forward and Oisín Gryson enjoyed a ding-dong battle in the first half with both players claiming the plaudits at various times.

Skryne cancelled out the Cilles point when Daragh Campion finished off a good move which started from Dean Reddy's kickout. Skryne's midfield pairing of Michael Doherty and Darren Fox were winning the midfield battle and giving a good supply of possession into the Skryne forwards. Eoin Smyth was weaving his magic in the forward line and was instrumental in winning a free on the 7th minute which Jayo Fox converted with ease. Skryne extended their lead 2 minutes later after good work in defence from Michael Long who won the ball and sent a fine pass to Eoin Smyth. Eoin laid it off to Jayo Fox who grabbed his second point of the game. On the 13th minute the Cilles, who were finding it hard to get a foothold in the game, broke upfield towards the hospital end. Their impressive full-forward found some space on the left hand side and made a beeline towards the Skryne goal before unleashing a rasper of a shot which was pushed away by Dean Reddy.

After a scramble in the Skryne penalty area, a Cilles man managed to get a boot to the ball and sent it into the Skryne net to put them a point ahead. Skryne took back the lead when they scored 3 unanswered points(all from play) through Andrew Moore, Eoin Smyth and Daragh Campion. The Cilles full forward tagged on another point from distance on the 23rd minute before Paddy Carpenter got himself on the scoresheet when a long ball from Daragh Campion was knocked down into his path and he calmly slotted it over. Skryne won a 45 close to the end of the half. Daragh Campion took it short and raced forward for the return which he sent over for his third point of the half. The Cilles finished the first half scoring with a point in injury time to leave the half-time score St. Colmcilles 1-03 Skryne 0-08.

St. Colmcilles upped their performance significantly in the second half pressing higher up the pitch and pressurising the Skryne defence. They kicked off the scoring on the fifth minute with a point from their energetic no. 15. Skryne lost the services of their influential corner forward Frank Carty a minute later when he was penalised with a black card for dragging back a Cilles player. The Cilles got their second goal of the night on 6 minutes when a high ball into the Skryne square was knocked down to the Cilles no. 15 who blasted the ball into the Skryne net. Skryne almost got a goal of their own a minute later when Darren Fox made a run towards the Cilles goal. His powerful shot had some of the Skryne crowd jumping out their seats in celebration of a goal.

Unfortunately his shot was just the wrong side of the post and rattled the side-netting. Skryne introduced Padraic Finnerty 9 minutes into the half. His first foray towards the Cilles goal almost resulted in a goal but unfortunately he hadn't quite calibrated his radar and his shot went wide of the mark. Colmcilles continued to add to their tally when they tagged on another point to extend their lead to three before Skryne were to register their first score of the half with a Jayo Fox free on 13 minutes. Cilles maintained their momentum with another 2 points. Skryne needed to display all their battling qualities at this stage and did so with great performances from Eoghan Greene and Robbie Clarke in defence and Oisín Gryson who was now playing in midfield helped prevent the Cilles from pulling away too far.

Skryne began knocking at the door again late in the half and pulled themselves back to within a point of Colmcilles with 10 minutes to go when Darren Fox found some space and delivered a pass to Padraic Finnerty close to the Cilles goal. Padraic expertly sidestepped his man and fired a shot past the Cilles goalkeeper for Skryne's first goal. 2 minutes later Skryne struck again when Aidan Gill took a pass from Eoin Smyth and rifled the ball into the Cilles net to fire Skryne into a 2 point lead with 8 minutes left on the clock. Skryne defended like their lives depended on it from then on, giving the Cilles no time or space when in possession. Eoghan Greene produced an outstanding block on the stand side in front of an appreciative crowd. The block was almost as good as a score at this stage such was the impact it had on the team who drove on with the bit between their teeth, determined not to relinquish their lead.

The excellent Skryne defence stood firm and held the Cilles scoreless for the remaining few minutes running out victors on a scoreline of St. Colmcilles 2-07 Skryne 2-09.

Skryne captain Jason Fox dedicated the victory to Jason Reddy who has been side-lined with an injury since the Spring League Final. How Jason would have loved to have been on the pitch racking up scores, but unfortunately could only look on. Good luck with the recovery Jason!! Well done to all the Skryne players, coaches and backroom staff. They put in the hard work and they've achieved their richly deserved reward.

St. Colmcilles can leave Pairc Tailteann with their heads held high following an excellent performance where they just fell short. Both sides contributed to an excellent and entertaining game of football and will no doubt meet again in the coming months, hopefully in the Championship Final.

Skryne Team: Dean Reddy, Cian Twomey, Oisín Gryson, Barry Clarke, Paddy Carpenter(0-01), Robbie Clarke, Eoghan Greene, Darren Fox, Michael Doherty, David Carroll, Eoin Smyth(0-01), Daragh Campion(0-03), Frank Carty, Andrew Moore(0-01), Jason Fox(0-03).
Subs: Michael Long, Colm Mc Loughlin, Padraic Finnerty(1-00), Jack O' Donnell, Aidan Gill(1-00), Colm Doherty, Shane Dowling, Dylan Bissett

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