Skryne travelled to Boardsmill on Sunday 11th September to take on Ballivor in the Junior B Shield final and came away with a resounding win to finish off their season in some style. The ball was thrown up at 2pm and Skryne played with a strong breeze after losing the toss of the coin. Skryne had accounted for their opposition in the championship with some ease earlier in the year, however, they were taking nothing for granted on this occasion.
Skryne opened the scoring with a well taken point from corner forward Kayleigh Farrell and this was followed shortly after when Catriona Keoghan on the other corner rattled the back of the opposition net to send Skryne into a four point lead. Skryne were showing their determination to come away with a victory and were contesting every ball as if their live’s depended on it. The midfield pairing of Eimear Finnerty and Coleen Jordan were on fire and Eimear set up half forward Melanie Kirwan to chalk up another point for the blues. Ballivor then had their first score of the afternoon when they struck for a point, however, Michelle Whelan the Skryne full forward cancelled this out when she split the posts to restore their margin. Michelle was again on the scoreboard within minutes when she put one past the Ballivor keeper to put Skryne into a commanding lead at the mid way stage of the half. Ballivor responded with two points to reduce the lead slightly.
Ballivor were finding it difficult to get a grip on the game and the strong breeze did not help their cause with Skryne making full use of their wind advantage. The Skryne rear guard were putting in their usual strong performance with Skryne centre back and team captain Gillian O’Sullivan leading by example. The wing back pairing of Orla Cragie and Mary Bennet were first out to every ball setting up attack after attack. The mid field duo of Eimear Finnerty and Coleen Jordan joined the scoring action in the closing stages of the half with Eimear scoring a point and Coleen adding three points of her own. The scoring in the opening half was completed by the ever busy Skryne half forward Saoirse McGrath when she took a point from play to leave the scores at the break:
Skryne: 2 – 8, Ballivor: 0 – 3.
The second half started with Skryne facing into a strong breeze even though they had a significant lead built up. They were not entertaining any notion of surrendering this lead and put in a powerful second half performance despite the wind disadvantage. The full back line of Niamh Lynch, Rachael Whelan and Una Morley were rock solid throughout and cleared their lines time after time. Skryne added 4 – 3 to their first half tally these scores coming from Michelle Whelan with 1-0, Catriona Keoghan 1 – 1, Coleen Jordan 2 – 1 the two goals coming from penalty kicks, Saoirse McGrath 0 – 1. Ballivor improved on their first half performance when they hit 2 – 7, however the Skryne side emerged winners on a final scoreline:
Skryne: 6 – 11, Ballivor: 2 – 10.
The Shield plaque was presented to team captain Gillian O’Sullivan and she thanked all her fellow team members for the commitment they had shown at training and on the field throughout the year. She also thanked the management team led by Mick Whelan and assisted by Declan Moore and Senan Mcgrath. Roisin Gryson was named player of the match by the Ladies County Board and she was a popular choice for this award. Mick Whelan team manager was fulsome in his praise of the team members for their commitment and attitude throughout the year. He added they had set out to win a trophy this year and they achieved this with flying colours. He went on to say this was something to build on for the coming year and emphasised this is a very young side with seven of this team under 16 and many of the other team members were part of the U19 team to win their divisional championship in 2010. He thanked his fellow mentors Declan Moore and Senan McGrath for all their help and support throughout the year.
Team – Roisin Gryson; Rachael Whelan, Niamh Lynch, Una Morley; Orla Cragie, Gillian O’Sullivan, Mary Bennet; Coleen Jordan {2-4}, Eimear Finnerty{0 – 1}; Melanie Kirwan{0 – 1}, Ruth Moore, Saoirse McGrath{0 – 2}; Kayleigh Farrell{0 – 1}, Michelle Whelan{2 – 1}, Catriona Keoghan{2 – 1}; Subs – Katie More for Ruth Moore, Deidre Kennedy for Orla Cragie, Sophie Halpin for Niamh Lynch, Aisling Bowans for Una Morley, Anita O’Sullivan for Kayleigh Farrell.
