Skryne returned to winning ways at juvenile level this year with their U-16s collecting the Div. 3 title at the expense of Nobber. Willie Rogan and Dan O'Leary masterminded the success. Former player Willie reveals the secret ingredients behind their winning formula to Royal County. Skryne are the 1998 U-16 Div. 3 champions courtesy of a six points victory over Nobber in the final which was played in Kilberry last July. The team in black and amber put up a spirited performance but the boys from Tara prevailed on a scoreline of 4-6 to 1-9. The winners held a 2-3 to 1-2 advantage at the interval and added an identical tally in the second half. Defenders Jason Carter and Cathal Quinlan, midfielder David Rogan and forwards Darren Carty, Shane Cunningham and Jamie Jordan, who accounted for 2-5 between them, played particularly well for Skryne. Former senior team stalwart Willie Rogan (father of midfielder David) along with Dan O'Leary has been in charge of this team since they were U-12. The Midland Electrical employee was no stranger himself to underage success, accumulating minor and U-21 championship souvenirs alongside the likes of Colm O'Rourke, Sean Whyte, Mickey Ryan and Dessie Finnerty. His brother John has the full collection of Meath juvenile medals. But times have changed. It's been a while since Skryne appeared on the Meath juvenile board's roll of honour. "It sure has," says Willie. "It has been such a long time that there are some fellas who can't remember when it was! In fact this year was the first time we won this particular competition. In the past we had won the U-16 Div. 1 and Div. 2 championships but not this one." Had Willie high expectations at the start of the year? "I had because we had dropped down a division. Last year the same team suffered eleven defeats on the trot. We weren't winning a game so we had no option but to go down," he replied. "Fair play to the boys, they really put in the effort and they got their reward. We really went for it. We started training in February and had four or five challenge games played before the championship commenced. "They responded well and with the exception of an odd night we had a full squad out training." Despite the optimism at the start of the campaign, Willie and Co. approached the decider with a certain amount of anxiety and trepidation. Nobber had blazed an impressive trail to the final and were never going to be a pushover. "They had beaten Slane by twenty points in an earlier round game while Slane had beaten us by two. We knew that we were going to have our work cut out to beat them. "We went out with the intention of trying to stop Nobber from playing. That was our game plan and thankfully it worked. As a team we performed well and that was the difference between winning and losing." A goal at the end of the first half proved to be the turning point in the game according to Willie. "We had wind assistance in the first half but were only winning by a point approaching half-time. But a goal from Shane Cunningham at the end of the first half was crucial to us. "Nobber took over in the second half. They dominated the game for the first ten minutes but they weren't able to score. We broke up field on a couple of occasions and made it count on the scoreboard." The Slane game was the only blot on Skryne's otherwise perfect record. O'Mahony's B, Ratoath, St. Vincent's/Curraha, Boardsmill and St. Mary's were all accounted for en route to the knock-out stages. A tough quarter-final game with Wolfe Tones at Bective ensued and Skryne were extremely fortunate to emerge with their championship aspirations intact. "We were very lucky against Wolfe Tones," the affable Rogan recalls. "They were bigger and stronger than us but once again Shane Cunningham came up trumps with the goals. We ended up winning by 4-6 to 2-9." No one could ever accuse the Willie Rogan/Dan O'Leary trained team of taking the easy options. In the semi-final against Ballinabrackey they were made fight for their championship life. However, history repeated itself as they battled against the elements in the second half to fashion a result. "It was a very wet and windy night for that game and once again we were only three points in front at half-time having had the assistance of the wind and the rain. I must admit I was panicking at half-time. But I needn't have worried because we played much better in the second half." While centreforward Cunningham (who was Skryne's sole representative on the Royal County U-16 squad) was the team's saviour on a number of occasions, it was far from a one man show. Jason Carter and Cathal Quinlan more than earned their keep in defence. The midfield duo of David Rogan and David Lynch, while small in stature, were well able to mix it with their bigger opponents and Jamie Jordan and Darren Carty gave Cunningham admirable assistance up front. Willie is also eager to pay tribute to his co-manager Dan O'Leary's contribution. "Like myself Dan never missed a night's training. He was unfortunate that he had his holidays booked for the semi-final and final but he was on the phone before and after the two games. Dermot Carty took over from him while he was away." The victorious Skryne team which played in the final was as follows - C. Cleary; J. Carter, D. O'Leary, A. Tuite; C. Quinlan, D. Harrington; D. Rogan (1-0), D. Lynch (0-1); D. Carty (0-1), S. Cunninghan (2-0), J. Jordan (0-4); S. White, S. Hamill. Sub: J. Smith (1-0) ACFL "B" title is some consolation for Juniors of '97 It's a rare year in which the famous Skryne club fails to feature in the county's Honours List. And while the Keegan Cup proved elusive again in 1997, and the Junior team experienced defeat by Bective in the championship final, there was some compensation when the All-County "B" Football League title, (Division 1), was captured at Trim's expense. The victory was the ideal Christmas present for the players who had invested a huge effort in the Junior championship but who had been shocked by a determined Bective team. Consistent performances in the "B" League had been part and parcel of the championship preparations and it was Skryne and Trim that eventually emerged as the table-toppers. The final was played at Dunshaughlin in early December but it took a second trip to the venue before the issue was resolved. The Blues were probably the luckier of the two teams to earn a second chance. It took a last-minute point from a free by Declan Smyth to deprive Trim of victory at the first time of asking. The townsmen led by five points at the interval, 0-9 to 0-4, but they had enjoyed the advantage of a strong breeze in the opening half. With most of their players having played at senior level at some stage of their careers, Skryne used their experience to good effect and although it took them 25 minutes to draw level, they appeared to have timed their run to perfection. They were set back on their heels when Trim regained the lead with time running out but Declan Smyth pointed a last-gasp free to give the Taramen a second chance. The final score was 0-12 apiece with Brendan McDonnell contributing a fine total of 0-6, and the remaining six points came from Declan Smyth (0-4), James Gibbons (0-1) and Alan Carty (0-1). No goals in the drawn game, but four in the replay! Once again Trim looked to be in a strong position at the interval when they led by 2-3 to 0-4 but Skryne grabbed the initiative from their listless opponents in the second half and went on to take the title with a four point win. Trim, with their five point lead were less urgent in the second half and goals from Declan Browne and James Gibbons provided the platform for a four point win, 2-8 to 2-4. Trim were restricted to a single point for the entire second half. Captain Brendan McDonnell was dismissed along with a Trim player in the second half but he had made a notable contribution together with Sean Lynch, Mark Harrington, Colin Lynch, Alan Carty, Chris Cunningham and goalie Oliver McDonnell. James Battersby deputised for Brendan McDonnell at the presentation of the Cup. The winning team, and scorers was, Oliver McDonnell; Sean Lynch, Alan Swan, Donnacha Quinlan; Mark Harrington, Tony Donnelly, James Battersby; Colin Lynch, Declan Browne (1-1); Alan Carty (0-3), James Gibbons (1-0), Niall Smyth; Declan Smyth (0-1), Brendan McDonnell (0-1), Christopher Cunningham (0-2). Substitutes used were Cyril Carty, Mark Reilly and Cormac O Brien. Tweet

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