Skryne 1 – 8
Dunboyne 0 – 7
This was a final where Skryne wanted to stamp their authority on the game right from the very first minute when Patrick Fox ran over sixty yards with the ball before hitting an unstopable shot to the Dunboyne net. It must have been obvious then to any of the neutrals in the magnificient Donaghmore/Ashbourn grounds that Skryne were up for the game and would leave no stone unturned to achieve victory on the night. Dunboyne were next to score with a point fronDonal Lenihan before Fox on 14 minutes got his second score. John Delany and Paul Fagan kept the pressure on skryne with two points to make the score 1 – 1 to 3 points after 16 minutes. Kevin Reilly and Robbie Wall traded points in the 19 minute and Jamie Jordan finished the scoring for Skryne to leave the half-time score at 1 – 4 to 0 – 4 points in favour of the Skryne men.
In the blustery cross field wind scores wer difficult to get, but after the resumption Michael Dunne, Michael Reilly and Gary Watters did manage to to score three points for Dunboyne to leave the scores level after 45 minutes. However with the game entering the last 10 minutes they had several chances to go ahead but were wide of the posts on each occasion.
It was then that experience came to the fore. Trevor Giles injected some urgency into the game and with help from more experienced men like, David Ryan ,Gordon Geraghty and John Quinn they showed that the match was there for Skryne if they wanted it bad enough. The entire team responded which culminated in a free which Giles took himself and gave the lead to Skryne once again. Dunboyne threw everything they had at Skryne but when their movements broke down Skryne would once again advance on their goals and scored the last three points. One of these points was the score of the game when Adam O’ Sullivan took position of the ball brought it to within scoring distance and took responsibility for getting the score himself. The same player would have been for this writer, the man of the match because despite some pressure on him early on he defended valiantly throughout the game and linked up with his forwards very well. His point put Skryne two in front with four minutes left on the clock and with scores so difficult to get on the night it appeared that this would be the one which closed the game out and it seemed to take the remaining fight out of Dunboyne. Skryne scored two more, from Giles and substitute Coror O’ Brien, leaving the final score 1 – 8 to 0 – 7.
The referee Pat Clarke had a good game but it was an easy game to referee with both teams intent on playing football. After the game the trophy was presented to the winning captain Brian Smyth who paid tribute to the effort put in all year by his team mates.
Teams:
Skryne – Conor Ryan, David Rogan, Barry Farrell, Dermot Brennan, Conor Whelan, John Quinn, Adam O’ Sullivan, Gordon Geraghty, David Harrington, Patrick Fox, Trevor Giles, Kevin O’ Reilly, Jamie Jordan, Brian Smyth, Ronan McCabe. Subs Mark Harrington for Whelan, David Ryan for David Harrington, Conor O’ Brien for Farrell.
Dunboyne – J. O’ Connor, R. Kavanagh, S. Mc Kenna, C. Finn, M. O’ Grady, D. Sweeney, P. Hayes, M. Reilly, P. Fagan, J. Delaney, C. Clarke, A. O’ Connor, R. Wall, M. Dunne and D. Lenihan. Subs; S. Mc Entee for M. O’ Grady, G. Watters for J. Delaney, M. Convey for R. Wall and K. Gilligan for C. Finn.
