After failing to reach the closing stages of the Meath SFC in each of the previous two years, having been champions in 2004, Skryne made a little bit of progress this year by getting to the quarter-finals where they lost out to Simonstown Gaels. Of course, Skryne have a very proud past with their 12 titles in the county's premier football competition leaving them second only to Navan O'Mahonys in the roll of honour. They have been in the top grade continuously since 1938 and no other Meath club can come near equalling that. Skryne folk could boast of having players on all of Meath's seven All-Ireland SFC winning teams with notable footballers such as Paddy O'Brien, Micheal O'Brien, Brian Smyth, Tom O'Brien, Colm O'Rourke, Liam Hayes, Trevor Giles and John McDermott having worn the blue and white with distinction. Indeed some observers wryly pointed to the lack of representation from the Tara area as one of the reasons for the Royal County's fall in the home straight this year! Trevor Giles would be an automatic choice on a best ever Skryne team and the leading light of the 1996 and '99 Sam Maguire Cup triumphs was still one of his club's main men in 2007. With player-manager Mick O'Dowd and Brian Smyth, he was part of the experienced trio of the side. Skryne had Mark Harrington, who was a promising full back before emigrating to Australia, a few years ago back home and with a few young players coming up from the underage ranks, there was hope that they could do better. Following their disappointing showings of the two previous years, Skryne's long odds were 20/1 before the first round with only three of the 16 starters being offered at a bigger price. But they still managed to top a five-team group which included the previous two outright winners, Wolfe Tones and Dunboyne, as well as championship favourites Navan O'Mahonys. Before the opening round Mick O'Dowd offered the opinion that there was cause for optimism after winning the under 21 A competition in 2005 and getting to the championship final in the same grade in 2006. "While it is going to be difficult, we have to be hopeful of doing better than in the last two championships," he said. Kilmainhamwood was the side that most observers expected to finish at the bottom of Group B and Skryne faced them in the opening round at Walterstown. An uninspiring contested ended with the men in the royal blue jerseys ahead by 1-12 to 0-7, having led by 0-9 to 0-6 at the break. It was 1-10 to 0-6 after 36 minutes with Brian Byrne blasting to the roof of the net after being placed by impressive midfielder Kevin Mulvaney. Those two were among eight Skryne players to raise flags but sterner tests obviously lay ahead. Still Skryne did very well to take two wins from their next three SFC games and could have finished their group schedule with full points but for a second half fade-out against Dunboyne after shaping like winners. After being idle in the second round, Skryne were one of only two teams (Rathkenny were the other) with full points following their 0-8 to 0-7 win over Navan O'Mahonys in a less than spectacular Saturday evening tussle at Seneschalstown. Despite only scoring three points from play, the Tara side left the Yellow Furze area the more happy of the sides. Skryne took advantage of the absence of Stephen Bray through suspension and after trailing by 0-4 to 0-5 at the break, they brought on Felim O'Rourke near the end of the third quarter and he kicked over three frees as well as setting up Trevor Giles to score from play. The Meath SFC was then put on the back boiler for nine weeks as the county team went on their unexpected long run. Following the 1-9 to 0-13 defeat by Dunboyne one report suggested that Skryne must have left Dunshaughlin wondering how they managed to lose. After being four points clear 13 minutes into the second half, the previously unbeaten outfit did not trouble the men with the flags again as the opposition rallied with two late points giving them as much. Skryne got off to a flying start with four points in the first seven minutes before Dunboyne got on the board. It became closer after that and the sides were level at 0-6 each at the break. Kevin Mulvaney got the goal four minutes after the restart and points from Felim O'Rourke (two frees) and Vinny O'Reilly appeared to have the Blues in control. But after that burst Skryne went into their shells. They had a chance to save the tie in added time at the end but Mick O'Dowd shot wide and they knew that their next game, against holders Wolfe Tones, would be a big match. A draw in the Sunday evening clash at Pairc Tailteann would have put both sides through Tailteann and for much of the hour there was the possibility that both sides could advance to the last eight with Navan O'Mahonys losing out. But it was Tones who went through the exit gate with a late Skryne scoring burst giving them a 1-8 to 0-9 victory. After going into a 0-3 to 0-2 lead after 14 minutes, Skryne did not score in the second quarter and were 0-3 to 0-6 in arrears at the break. That could have been more as Patrick O'Rourke made a good save from David O'Neill at the end of the first half. Soon after the restart Brian Smyth shot an important goal and after the sides were level for the fourth time Skryne earned two frees which Trevor Giles sent over the bar. Then Alan Fox left the minimum in it, Smyth fisted over the bar and Skryne were into the last eight. After that win some people began to take them more seriously with their odds being clipped to 8/1. However, the 2007 SFC ended for Skryne at Seneschalstown when Simonstown Gaels defeated them by 1-10 to 0-10. O'Rourke has been a surname associated with Skryne teams for a number of years and goalkeeper Patrick and forward Felim were prominent in the royal blue over the last few months. However, their cousin, Shane O'Rourke, played a big part in ending their dreams of another Keegan Cup triumph by kicking five points in that Yellow Furze tussle. The Navan side were just ahead, by 0-6 to 0-5, at the halfway stage and veterans Trevor Giles and Mick O'Dowd were the only starting Skryne forwards to score. In contrast all of Simonstown's front six got on target and they had a slight edge for most of the hour. Felim O'Rourke, who had been brought on in the early stages of the second period, put over three points from frees and two more of the losers' scores were from similar kicks by O'Dowd. The Skryne side that was beaten in the SFC quarter-final was - P. O'Rourke; A. Curry, M. Harrington, J. Gibbons; D. Rogan, J. Quinn, J. Looby (0-1); K. Mulvany, D. McGoldrick; V. O'Reilly, T. Giles (0-2), J. Jordan; J. Hegarty, M. O'Dowd (0-4), B. Smyth. Subs - A. Carty for Jordan, F. O'Rourke (0-3) for Smyth, A. Tuite for O'Reilly, G. Geraghty for Looby, D. Lynch for Hegarty. Four weeks later five of those who figured for Skryne in that SFC quarter-final helped the club to take the B League Division 1 title with a 0-14 to 1-9 final victory over Wolfe Tones after extra-time at Bective. The five were Andrew Curry, Brian Smyth, Gordon Geraghty, James Hegarty and Jamie Jordan and among those in opposition was All-Ireland winning captain of 11 years earlier, Tommy Dowd. With Allan Carty and Brian Smyth sending two points apiece and Jamie Jordan and David Ryan also getting on target, Skryne held a narrow 0-6 to 0-4 lead at the first break. Carty opened the scoring for the second period and held the lead until a Tones goal six minutes from the end left them with more to do. However, points from Carty and Jordan left it level on 0-9 to 1-6 after an hour. Then before the start of extra-time the Skryne pair of Andrew Curry and Jamie Jordan were forced to dash from the scene of action to catch a plane to Australia. But Cyril Carty came on for the departing Jordan and did well, scoring two points and another substitute, Johnny Jordan, got on target in extra-time during which Sean Power kicked a penalty wide for Tones. The Skryne team which won the B FL Division 1 final was: Barry Farrell; Andrew Curry, David Harrington, Louis Gilsenan; Dwayne Beeton, Martin Mulvaney, Thomas Farnan; Brian Smyth, Gordon Geraghty; Ronan McCabe, James Hegarty, David Ryan; Allan Carty, Jamie Jordan, Mark Jordan. Subs- Cillian McManus for Farnan, Johnny Jordan for McManus, Des McAvinney for Curry, Cyril Carty for Jamie Jordan. In the JFC Skryne win just one of their five games in Group C. That was gained by 2-10 to 2-8 over Kildalkey and they suffered defeats at the hands of Slane, Ballinabrackey, Drumbaragh and Navan O'Mahonys. After three SFC triumphs in the '90s and the 2004, Skryne will strive hard to get back on the roll of honour soon rather later. This year they also got to the Division 1 League final and come 2008 they will be keen to get a step or two further in the race for the Keegan Cup. Superb second-half secures Under 16 FC success for Skryne Liam Toland led the way with 1-5 and Declan Morley chalked up 1-2 as Skryne deservedly and decisively won the Under 16 FC title for the first time in 33 years with nine points (2-13 to 1-7) to spare over O'Mahonys at Pairc Tailteann in July. Skryne's first annexation of the Benny Caffrey Cup was achieved on the back of a strong second-half showing which saw them outscore the Navan lads by 2-7 to 1-1. To their credit the Navan lads, who only played their semi-final against Ratoath four days earlier, battled valiantly against the strong breeze blowing from the hospital end and when Simon Dixon netted brilliantly in the 51 minute the gap was down to just three points, 1-7 to 1-10. Earlier in the half, the O'Mahonys' number 15 struck the side-netting after cutting in from the left. The losing side saw five second-half scoring attempts drop into the safe hands of Skryne custodian Conor Ryan. Skryne might have won by a wider margin but for shooting 14 wides, twice as many as Brendan O'Reilly's charges, who were never headed in the opening half and reached the interval on level terms, 0-6 each, with the Tara boys. Within 30 seconds of the restart Toland pointed Skryne in front for the first time when latching onto a long delivery from impressive team mate and skipper Ciaran Lenehan. Though Darragh Maguire, Michael Murphy and Neil Jordan combined to set up James O'Reilly for a levelling score moments later. It was the third and final time that the sides were level on a fine evening for football. A scoring blitz that yielded 1-2, including Toland's goal, between the 36th and 39th minutes, set Skryne on their way to a success that was warmly appreciated by all associated with the club. O'Mahonys goalkeeper John Foley saved smartly from Morley ten minutes after the restart. However, when Lenehan's midfield partner Adam O'Sullivan pointed from the edge of the exclusion zone as the clock ticked into the final quarter it was 1-10 to 0-7. Dixon's goal threw O'Mahonys hopes of first success at this level in five years a lifeline, but Skryne's win was sealed with 1-2 in the final minutes with Morley getting the goal while substitute Paul Bannon had another effort blocked by O'Mahonys' defender Killian Walsh. Skryne - Conor Ryan; Dermot Brennan, Cian Kennedy, Ciaran O'Rourke; Joseph Jordan, Paul Keogan, David Hegarty; Ciaran Lenehan (0-1), Adam O'Sullivan (0-1); David Burke, Brian Davis (0-3), Ian Gillette (0-1); Liam Toland (1-5), Declan Morley (1-2), Patrick Fox. Sub - Paul Bannon for Jordan. Daire Maxwell minor FT The Daire Maxwell Minor Football Tournament was set up by Skryne GFC this year, at the end of the summer, after the untimely death of Daire, a promising under-age footballer with the club. Daire died tragically in a traffic accident on Saturday morning, 12th May 2007. The evening before he had played at left full back in a minor league game against St Martins for Skryne. The teams involved in the tournament were Skryne, and three other local minor teams, St. Martins, Ratoath and Dunsany. The games were played under lights in Skryne on Monday and Friday nights with each team having three games and the top two teams going on to playing in the final, which ended up with Skryne taking on St. Martins. The Final was held on the evening of Sunday 16th September in Skryne GFC. There was a good turn out for the final, with the crowd made up of those connected to the players of the Skryne and Dunshauglin teams and friends of Daire from Ashbourne Community School. In the final St. Martins lead by four points at half time but two Skryne goals, one each from Ian Davis and Johnny Jordan in the second half helped the Tara side to regain the lead and eventually go on to win the final by two points. A presentation of the Daire Maxwell cup which was sponsored by the Maxwell family was made after the game by the Skryne juvenile chairman Sean Brennan along with Daire's two sisters Elaine and Michelle Maxwell to Tomas McKeown, the Skryne captain and medals were presented by Liam Reddy of L+V milk deliveries, whom Daire worked with, to members of the victorious Skryne team. Skryne GFC plan to run The Daire Maxwell Minor Tournament on an annual basis, keeping Daire's memory alive in the Parish and beyond. Final Score - Skryne 3-09, St.Martins 2-10 Skryne Team - Conor Ryan, Ciaran Bailey, Tomas McKeown, David Hegarty, Declan Morley, Anthony Donnelly, Karl Burke, David Ryan (0-01), Patrick O'Rourke (0-03), Barry Farrell (0-01), Johnny Jordan (1-02),Ian Davis (2-0), Adam O'Sullivan (0-01), Ciaran Lenihan (0-01), Bryan Davis. Subs: Darren Reilly, Liam Tolan, David Burke, Paul Keoghan, Dermot Brennan, Patrick Fox, Alan McGoldrick, Joseph Jordan, Cian Kennedy, Colm Booth, Ciaran O'Rourke, Paddy Corr. Tweet

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