Colum Cromwell delves into the history books and finds out that when most is expected of them, Skryne normally flatter to deceive. Were there ever hotter or shorter priced favourites for the Meath Senior Football Championship then Skryne in this Millennium year. Ever since the '99 victory over neighbours, Dunshaughlin in late November the 'experts' fancied the Blues to complete the double. Nobody could cope with Giles and McDermott! Brian Smyth and Mick O'Dowd were unstoppable! The backs were strong and resolute! Most of the opposition just wasn't up to it! That's more or less how it was being interpreted. The first round of this year's championship against Cortown seemed to bear this out. Cortown mightn't be a big name just yet but they have held their own in the senior grade since they arrived and they have had a good academy in St Cuthberts who produced some star underage teams in recent years. Skryne just blew Cortown off the pitch on 29th April. For their own sake this was probably the worst scenario as it probably helped the players to believe "the experts". History however would indicate that the warning lights should have been flashing. For those of us long enough around to remember, making Skryne favourites is a dangerous occupation. And so it proved in the semi-final against Kilmainhamwood. Despite the fact that the 'Wood had disposed of Seneschalstown, Walterstown and Dunderry (in a replay) many people felt Skryne had only to turn up on the day to qualify for repeat of the '99 final against Dunshaughlin. The favourites did start off in good style but suddenly gaps opened up in defence and the wides were mounting up at the other end. From the time K'Wood took the lead, the Blues were struggling and players who looked brilliant nine or ten months ago suddenly appeared very ordinary. To be fair to the North Meath men they did play well; they had their homework done and they took what chances came their way. In one quick hour Skryne had lost their crown and the Bookies were smiling. Since then K'Wood proved no match for Dunshaughlin. A year is a long time in football. The quiet rural parish of Skryne stretching from east to the N2 to west to the N3 (and that's before the new motorway arrives) has a wonderful tradition going back over 60 years but the history of victories is also interlaced with some inexplicable defeats. A senior team continuously since 1938 and proudly represented on each of Meath's seven All-Ireland winning teams, Skryne have won the Senior Championship 11 times (only O'Mahonys with 16 titles are ahead of them). However, that 11 could well be as high as 20 had Lady Luck shone or had things gone to plan on the day. Yes, they did win the 11 but would you believe that in the 60 years since 1940 Skryne have contested the Senior Final on 27 occasions. Some of the losses were due to not being good enough, in other finals it didn't work out on the day and on more than one occasion the gods weren't smiling. This is particularly true of some of the Skryne - O'Mahonys sagas. In '57, '58 and '59 finals the Navan men triumphed on all three occasions (in Navan, Kells and Trim respectively). In the first and third of these the margin was but a single point and in both matches that winning point came on the stroke of full time via Colm Hilliard ('57) and Patsy Ratty ('59). In between there was a low scoring draw in Kells in late November - a match Skryne dominated but couldn't score. In the replay a week later O'Mahonys made a few changes and won (as Ted Walsh would say) pulling up. A few years later the clubs met in the semi-final also at Kells but this time in a summer heatwave. Time was up and Skryne were a point ahead when a defender conceded a needless free out near midfield. Seamus Clynch sent a monster kick all the way over the bar to earn a replay. Of course O'Mahonys won the replay and went on to win the Keegan Cup. In the late 60's Skryne and Gaeil Colmcille met in the semi-final. Skryne should have won the first day but only got a draw. In the replay they had 70% of the play but thanks to some woeful shooting had to be content with another draw. In the third match Skryne were "stuck to the ground" as "Snitchie" Ferguson by now in his late 30's scored or helped to score two goals, and of course that Kells side went to win the Keegan Cup easily. In the 80's Skryne arrived with a new team having won quite a few Under 16s, Minor and U21 titles in the 70's. Colm O'Rourke, Mick Ryan, Sean "Player" White, Liam Hayes, three Finnertys and three Rogans were the big names. In one year '81 they also had Tyrone All Star Kevin McCabe. Yet when the chips were down something always went wrong. In the 1980 semi-final Skryne were the hottest of favourites but lost sensationally to a moderate Syddan team which was subsequently out of its depth in the final against Walterstown. In 1981 old rivals Skryne and O'Mahonys qualified for the final once again. This could be it! Skryne started well with an early goal and in a low scoring encounter still held a point lead with time ticking away. Colm O'Rourke came back into defence to help out and took down a ball from way above the crossbar. Unfortunately he lost possession on the way out - somebody fouled and Finian Murtagh tapped over the equaliser. O'Mahonys (as per normal) walked away with the replay. In '84 Skryne eventually beat the O'Mahonys. This time it was in the semi-final and were made favourites for the big day against title holders and neighbours Walterstown. What happened? Two goals for the Blacks in the first five minutes and although Skryne rallied in the second half they could never catch up. The match ended with an unnecessary punch-up and a couple of sendings off. A year later Skryne dethroned the Blacks with a brilliant semi-final display and once again were made favourites to beat O'Mahonys in the decider. Enter a 19 year old named David Beggy whom nobody had ever heard of. He partnered Joe Cassells at midfield and ran through the Skryne defence like a knife through butter. The Blues did rally late in the match. Too late however, and Beggy went on to become a household name for the next decade. In '87 it was almost a carbon copy. Pairc Tailteann was "out of bounds" due to major reconstruction so everything moved to Kells. Meath had just won the All-Ireland. Liam Hayes was in tremendous form and Skryne played brilliantly against Walterstown in the semi. On the same day O'Mahonys were lucky to draw with Slane. Only Donal Smyth's brilliance in goal kept the Navan side in the title race. Of course, Slane didn't get a second chance and the Skryne/O'Mahony's saga continued. This was definitely going to be the one! Skryne were four points up in the first ten minutes. Then an experted free-in which would have made it five, turned into a free-out. O'Mahonys recovered, led at half-time and went on to add another title to their list. A late penalty brought a goal to Skryne but again alas too late! Two years later in '89 it was more of the same but strangely the atmosphere was much different. Skryne were steeped in luck to qualify for the final and nobody gave them a chance. Their best men were over the hill or so it seemed. However, this was one that got away. Skryne rose to the occasion, did most things right, scored three goals but still lost in a nailbiting finish 0-17 to 3-6. This was probably Colm O'Rourke's finest hour in a Blue Jersey and it is not very often that a member of the losing side wins the "Man of the Match" award. In the 90's the tide turned and Skryne with a mixture of young and not so young actually won back to back titles just when nobody gave them a chance. The first in '92 was against Seneschalstown, the second against old enemies O'Mahonys. Things definitely were changing and us old-timers couldn't believe it had happened. O'Rourke, Whyte and Padraig Finnerty were still there and were joined by two kids called Trevor Giles and Mick O'Dowd who would grab many headlines over the following years. Another 'chip of the old block' named Willie Donnelly was also very much to the fore and even though Sean Whyte had departed in '93 his replacement John McDermott on transfer from Curraha was about to become another household name. Now the talk was of three in a row but as I already said that's when the Amber Lights begin to flash. In the '94 final Skryne disappointed again as Seneschalstown gained revenge for that '92 defeat - all the more surprising when one considers that Liam Hayes, who had missed the two victories through injury, had returned. Liam thus must have created his own record of losing six out of six county senior finals. Since then many clubs such as Dunderry, Kilmainhamwood, Simonstown and Dunboyne have proved too good as the years moved on and O'Rourke and Hayes bowed out. In '98 Trevor Giles and Mick O'Dowd were injured and Skryne looked very moderate when they lost to eventual champions Dunboyne in the semi-final. And so we come to 1999. Giles and O'Dowd were back but expectations were not really high. A string of league defeats in the absence of the county men and two championship draws against Moynalvey and Oldcastle didn't make one think in Keegan Cup terms. However, they did qualify for the KO stages and when the excitement of the All-Ireland and Australia died down, McDermott and Giles summoned up unbelievable reserves of stamina and for three glorious hours, aided and abetted by O'Dowd, Brian Smyth, Ken Pentony, Ciaran Murphy and a few more proceeded to convince all and sundry that the Keegan Cup was due a three year spell in Frank Swan's or Sean Foxes. That's of course where history came in. It just doesn't work like that and Skryne when hotly fancied as often as not don't deliver. Of course, they are not the only ones who learn the hard way that an easy first doesn't necessarily lead on to a second and Dunshaughlin would do well to beware the dangers of 2001. Setbacks come and setbacks go and that old Blue Jersey will still be there in the years and century ahead. The tradition is there and though some may scoff at tradition it does count. The youngsters are proud to wear that Blue Jersey and continue the tradition and keep the flag flying as it has done for the past 60 years. For the record this is Skryne's record in Meath Senior Football Finals - Won 1940, '41, '45, '47, '48, '54, '65, '92, '99 (11) Lost 1942, '50, '51, '52, '56, '57, '58, '59, '69, '71, '81, '84, '85, '87, '89, '94 (16) P.S. Micéal O'Brien played in 14 finals '41-'59 Paddy Cromwell played in 3 finals '65 - '71 Colm O'Rourke played in 8 finals - '81 - '94 That's just three players covering 25 of the 27 finals. Add in Packy Mooney (1940) and his grandson Trevor Giles (1999) and you have five players covering all 27 finals over 60 years. (Packy and Trevor of course played in other finals as team-mates of Micéal and Colm). Tweet

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