Another draw for Skryne
Wolfe Tones 0-11 Skryne 0-11
A League Division 1 – Round 7
Pairc Mhic Eoin in Kilberry was the venue for yesterday evening’s A League Division 1 Round 7 match between Skryne and Wolfe Tones. The groundsmen had obviously been busy over the weekend as the pitch was in fantastic shape having been freshly mowed. Yesterday was a showery day, but the rain stayed away for the entire match and conditions were good with little or no wind.
Skryne were very short on numbers yesterday and had only about 17 players to choose from. With the Meath minors playing in Navan yesterday, the Skryne contingent were not available, along with the Meath Senior lads Paddy, Harry and Batts, while about half a dozen others were laid off through injury.
Wolfe Tones kicked off the scoring with a pointed free after 2 minutes, but the most noteable feature of the first 15 minutes was the wide count. There were 11 wides in the first fifteen minutes with both teams seemingly leaving the shooting boots in the dressing room. Skryne finally got on the scoresheet after 17 minutes with a point from the lively Niall Morley. Ian Gillett came to the rescue of Skryne early on when he made a point-blank save which kept the Skryne goal intact. John Morley bagged 2 more points for Skryne before Wolfe Tones bagged a brace to level things up. Ciaran Lenehan knocked over a 45 which was quickly followed by a point from Paddy Fox on the stroke of half time. The half-time score was Skryne 0-05, Wolfe Tones 0-03.
Wolfe Tones benefited from an early free immediately after the restart. Cian Ward stepped up to slot the ball over the black spot and reduce the deficit to 1. John Morley bagged his third of the game, a free to put the lead back to 2 points. Cian Ward and Ciaran Lenehan swapped scores both from placed balls before the Tones hit 3 points without reply to snatch the lead midway through the half. During this period Skryne had 2 gilt edged goal chances. The first a rasper of a shot from Donie Ryan on the edge of the penalty area which was parried away by the impressive Wolfe Tones keeper. He came to the rescue of the Tones again when the ball was deflected over the Tones full-back line where Jayo Fox and Niall Morley were lurking with intent. Foxy helped the deflected ball along it’s way to Spud who took a shot from close range, but found the Tones keeper in fine form as he made himself big and blocked the ball away. Skryne would rue these missed opportunities as the match neared an end. Spud got Skryne back on terms when he fired over a fine point from the right hand side. Cousin John put Skryne back in the lead with a pointed free. Cian Ward’s golden boot levelled things up again from another free. Skryne added to their wide count with 3 wides in a row, which had they been converted might have killed off the Tones challenge. John Morley and Cian Ward again swapped scores with a pointed free each before Stephen O’ Brien put Skryne ahead with a little over 3 minutes remaining. Tones pressed for an equaliser, but like Skryne they too were racking up wides. Alas, just when it looked like Skryne would get away with the win, they conceded another free with time almost up. Wardie stepped up and split the posts to level the game. The final whistle sounded with the scoreline 0-11 each.
Skryne will have been disappointed to leave without the victory. They had their chances to win this game and will face tougher challenges in their remaining games. To be fair, they were missing some of their key players. On the plus side, there were some good performances from Niall Lenehan in particular who played at centre-back yesterday and looked right at home. Ronan Mc Cabe, Mark Jordan and Niall Morley also shone for Skryne.
Skryne: Ian Gillett; Declan Morley, Mark Harrington, Mark Jordan, Ronan Mc Cabe, Niall Lenehan, Stephen O’Brien; Donie Ryan, Ciarán Lenehan; Neil Burke, Patrick Fox, Bryan Davis; Jason Fox, John Morley, Niall Morley.
Subs used: Dermot Brennan
