Campion point saves Skryne
Ratoath 0-11 Skryne 1-08
Ratoath and Skryne played out an exciting draw in this Feis Cup match played in bitterly cold conditions in Dunganny. The match started over half an hour behind the scheduled 8 o’clock throw in time due to venue confusion for the Referee.
Despite the late start Ratoath were quickly into their stride and had Skryne under pressure from the start and raced into a four point lead early on. The free taking of Mark Battersby kept Skryne within striking distance of their opponents and this proved to be crucial to the eventual outcome of the game. As halftime approached Ratoath led by five points to two but an opportunist goal from the Blues full forward Padraig Finnerty had Skryne in front for the first time in the match. Ratoath reacted well to Skrynes goal and had the last score of the half with an equalising point right on the half time whistle to leave the score at the break – Ratoath 0-6 Skryne 1-3.
The two sides cancelled each other out in the early part of the second half and we had to wait until the 13th minute for the first point which put Ratoath back in front. Then Skryne settled down and two more points for Battersby and another from Darragh Campion had the Blues two points in front and looking good for a win in a low scoring game.
A defining incident of the game occurred in the 23rd minute of this half when Skryne were reduced to 14 men as a result a defender being sent off. Then it was Ratoaths turn to take over and this they certainly did scoring four points without reply to go two points clear with time running out.
To their credit Skryne rallied and finished the game stronger than their opponents. Firstly Conor O’Brien pointed after a great team move up the pitch all the way from Cian O’Donoghue making his debut between the posts for Skryne. Then on the stroke of full time Campion rescued the Blues with a superb long range point to deservedly equalise the scores.
Apart from those already mentioned in a good team effort Skryne were well served by David Carroll and Tommy Carpenter in defence Harry Rooney in midfield and John Finnerty in attack. Final Score -Ratoath 0-11 Skryne 1-8.
Skryne – Cian O’Donoghue; Robbie Clarke, Ciaran Lenehan, David Carroll; Tommy Carpenter, John O’Regan, Frank Carty; Harry Rooney, Darragh Campion (0-2); Conor O’Brien (0-1), Neil Burke, John Finnerty; John Morley, Padraig Finnerty (1-1), Mark Battersby (0-4).
Subs used – Andrew Moore, Oisin Keogh, Jarlath Jordan and Jack O’Donnell.
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