For a team that brought the Senior Football Championship title to the club for the 12th time in 2004, it has to be regarded as something of a surprise that Skryne haven't managed to reach the knockout stages in the last two campaigns. Skryne inflicted a second successive final defeat on Simonstown Gaels in '04 as coach Colm O'Rourke watched his former club pile further misery on his adopted one and with the Tara side going on to reach the Leinster final they looked like a team that could be set for a lengthy stay at or near the summit of Meath club football. However, that's certainly not how it has turned out. They achieved three group victories in 2005, but the campaign was more of a battle to avoid the unthinkable for a club of Skryne's stature - a place in the relegation play-off - than a firm bid for a spot in the quarter-finals and the opportunity to retain the Keegan Cup. It has to be accepted that the retirement of John McDermott has represented a massive loss to Skryne, just as it was to Meath when he closed the door on his magnificent inter-county career that yielded two All-Ireland medals. It also has to be appreciated that they are a generally young team and are going through something of a transition period. Martin Kennedy's side was drawn in Group B of the championship, a section that also included reigning champions Dunboyne, Trim, Wolfe Tones, Walterstown, Seneschalstown and two teams that were widely expected to end up in a battle for survival - Ballinlough and Cortown. Nobody could have predicted how the championship would open for Skryne when they travelled to Trim to meet Ballinlough who were the fancies of so many people to drop down to intermediate level. But they produced the shock of the competition on the opening weekend by winning on a 2-9 to 2-7 score line. Peadar Byrne, then part of the county senior set-up, was in magnificent form for Ballinlough as he tormented the Skryne defence, but a David Lynch goal after 10 minutes appeared to set up the anticipated comfortable win for the favourites. But Ballinlough had left the script behind them in north Meath and recovered to lead by 2-3 to 1-1. They were never headed subsequently, though a Brian Smyth goal helped Skryne to be level (2-3 each) at the break. The teams were level three times in the second half, but a productive spell at the start of the final quarter that yielded three points pushed Ballinlough towards a win that greatly enhanced their survival prospects and dealt an early and totally unexpected blow to Skryne's qualification ambitions. A second defeat followed when Wolfe Tones won by 1-11 to 2-7 at Pairc Tailteann on a day when Skryne under-performed alarmingly in the first half. They didn't register their first wide until the 18th minute and trailed by 1-1 to 1-8 at the interval after Trevor Giles had notched both scores late in the half. Skryne improved in the second period and points from Jamie Jordan, Cian Byrne and Giles brought them into contention. Giles was also denied a second goal by the width of a post as Tones stayed in front. A Mick O'Dowd goal direct from a free gave Skryne hope as they trailed at that stage by 2-6 to 1-11, but too much damage had been inflicted in the opening half hour and Tones deserved their win. Skryne were one of three pointless teams at that stage and really needed a win when they met struggling Cortown at Simonstown. They got it, winning by 2-9 to 0-9, but it wasn't convincing. An O'Dowd goal helped them to lead by 1-5 to 0-1 after 18 minutes and they looked to be cruising. Cortown were left to rue seven wides in that half and Skryne led by 1-6 to 0-3 at the interval. The losers closed the gap to two points (0-8 to 1-7) with 11 minutes to go, but a calamitous defensive mix-up enabled Brian Smyth to score a second goal and Skryne had their first points in the bag. A hugely improved display followed in the fourth round at Pairc Tailteann when Skryne beat defending champions Dunboyne by 1-13 to 0-14. The decisive goal came early in the second quarter when Jamie Jordan flicked to the net after great work by Allan Carty and O'Dowd and the Taramen led by 1-7 to 0-7 at half-time. Dunboyne recovered to be on level terms three times subsequently but Skryne, with McDermott assisting on the sideline, finished strongest to win. Suddenly, Skryne had essentially staved off any relegation concerns and were in contention for a quarter-final place. The fifth and sixth rounds were played in the space of a few days and Skryne made it three successive victories when they beat Seneschalstown by 1-9 to 1-7 at Walterstown as Giles proved inspirational with seven points. A Kevin Mulvaney goal helped them to a 1-2 to 0-2 interval lead and they pushed clear after the change of ends, before Seneschalstown rallied in the closing stages when Joe Sheridan scored a late consolation goal. Unfortunately for Skryne, the progressive run came to a halt at Pairc Tailteann when Trim defeated them by 0-11 to 0-6. Mulvaney was denied a certain goal by the woodwork on 20 minutes and Smyth was foiled by Brendan Murphy's outstretched leg soon after as Trim worked their way into a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead. Skryne didn't register a score in the third quarter as Trim pushed 0-10 to 0-3 clear and there was no way back after that. The reality after a third defeat was that Skryne could still reach the last eight as they were tied on six points with Dunboyne, with Walterstown, Wolfe Tones and Trim already assured of their qualification places. Their match in the seventh and final round of the marathon qualification programme was against Walterstown at Pairc Tailteann and it was the Blacks who secured top spot in the group thanks to a 1-10 to 0-10 win. Skryne led by 0-7 to 1-3 at half-time and edged two points ahead early in the second period, but Walterstown regained the advantage 11 minutes into the half and held it to the end. When all was said and done, Dunboyne filled the fourth qualification place on eight points, with Skryne finishing joint fifth in the section along with Seneschalstown, both on six. It was a campaign that started very poorly for the Taramen with two defeats - particularly that shocker against Ballinlough - then picked up quite promisingly with three victories on the bounce, but sagged again on the run in with successive losses. "Losing to Ballinlough was a downer," recalled team manager Martin Kennedy. "That game was a big banana skin for us and we saw it that way. But we fell on it. We felt we had given ground away to the other teams and that the surprise element was gone as far as Ballinlough were concerned. "But we also knew that we had a long way to go. After that, we didn't turn up for the first half against Wolfe Tones, but it was a game we felt we could have got a draw from. We improved after that, but there was a long gap that helped nobody. Then there was a huge spate of games, three in a short space of time. "We had injuries and had other players who were coming back from injuries. That doesn't help. But beating Dunboyne really put us back on track and we then beat Seneschalstown. After that, we just didn't score enough in our last two games against Trim and Walterstown. We managed only six points against Trim. We were creating plenty of chances, but we didn't finish enough of them. We were missing too many goal chances and against Walterstown in our last match we gave away a crucial one to Paddy Reynolds. "We are working off a small base of players in Skryne, with a panel of 25, but we still thought that we were strong enough to qualify from the group and if you get through to the quarter-finals you never know what might happen after that. Look how it tuned out two years ago. "Apart from that one game against Trim we were never more than a kick of the ball away from getting a win or a draw." And how does the manager view the future for this Skryne panel? "The experience of this year should stand to them, especially the lads who are trying to establish themselves," Kennedy added. "Also, the pain of experiences like the one they suffered against Ballinlough should stand to them. Of course, staying injury-free is also very important, especially when you don't have a particularly big panel to choose from. "In some ways having a small panel can be an advantage in that it's a tight knit unit. They are a great bunch of lads, close knit and very united. If somebody steps out of line they soon know about it." Skryne minors The last two years have been something of a major turnaround for this bunch of lads. When the 2005 season started a new management team of Eddie McCormack as manager assisted by Pat McCabe and Damian White was put in place. Results began to pick up and they were only beaten by one point in the Division 3 minor final by Blackfort Gaels. This was followed by a U17 semi-final defeat by Ratoath. When the 2006 season started the minors were placed in Division 2, which was a step up from last year. They marched through this division unbeaten to a final meeting with near neighbours Walterstown. Alas, they were again runners-up in the Division 2 minor final. In the championship the minors were placed in Division 2 and beat St Martins by 2-11 to 1-12 in the quarter-final. This was followed up by a semi-final victory over Parnells, 1-17 to 2-10, which booked a place in the final against Blackhall Gaels. This match was played in Trim on Halloween night under lights and it turned out to be a great game of football with both teams fighting to the death. But in the end the score was Skryne 1-10 Blackhall 3-8. A third final defeat in two years was hard to take but you cannot take away from the huge amount of progress this squad have made in that time. Hopefully the future of Skryne will be in good hands with this bunch of lads. Tweet

Most Read Stories