Last gasp goal snatches victory for Skryne
Skryne 2-09 Wolfe Tones 1-10
Junior A Football Championship, Group C – Round 2
On a splendid evening in Bective, Skryne super-sub Craig Nolan bagged a last gasp goal to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as Skryne produced a heroic second half performance to pip the Tones at the post and register their first victory in this year’s Junior A Football Championship.
Skryne registered early points from Felim O’Rouke and Kesha Reilly, and led by 2 points to 1 when Wolfe Tones launched a superb attack from deep in their own half. Their centre-back who swapped passes several times during the move, picked up the final pass in Skryne’s penalty area and finished emphatically to the Skryne net. The Tones added 2 more points before Skryne grabbed 2 of their own from Felim O’Rourke to narrow the gap to 2 points. Wolfe Tones converted 2 soft frees in injury time to give themselves a 4 point cushion at the half-time interval. Half-time score: Wolfe Tones 1-05, Skryne 0-04
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Skryne were desperate for a good start to the second half, but instead they found themselves down a man inside the opening 2 minutes of the half when influential midfielder Aidan Tuite received his marching orders for retaliating to an over zealous challenge from a Wolfe Tones man. Similar retaliation on 2 occassions in the first half from the Tones merited only yellow cards, so Aidan’s exit came as an unwelcome surprise to the Skryne contingent. Skryne were still 4 points down at this stage and were now a man down and facing an uphill battle to retrieve a favorable result from this game. However, their response to the sending off was superb. Felim O’ Rourke and Kesha Reilly added to their tallies to reduce the deficit to 2 before Paddy Doherty who had been brought on to fill in for Tuitey at midfield at the expense of the unlucky Jason Fox, got on the end of a pass from Dermot Brennan who had made a brilliant burst through the heart of the Tones defence, and finished brilliantly over the head of the Tones keeper into the top left corner of the Tones goal to put Skryne into the lead. Tones levelled things up again a minute later, but the Hedge was on hand to restore Skryne’s lead on the 17th minute. 3 unanswered points from the Tones saw them enter the final few minutes with a 2 point lead. Skryne missed several chances to reduce the deficit and as the game entered injury time it looked like all was lost, but then super-sub Craig Nolan stepped up with a fine point to leave just the minimum between the teams. He then got on the end of a fine ball, before turning his man and blasting a rocket of a shot past the Tones goalkeeper into the roof of the net to the delight of the Skryne faithful who were jumping around in ecstasy as Skryne grabbed a dramatic win. Final Score: Skryne 2-09, Wolfe Tones 1-10
Special mention to Mark Harrington who was magnificent throughout the game in defence and showed some great leadership in driving the troops on. He was not alone as all his colleagues can be proud of a tremendous performance and well deserved victory.
Skryne: Des Mc Avinney; Timmy Lennon, Mark Harrington, Barry Clarke; Dermot Brennan, Ronan McCabe, Darren Fox; Michael Doherty, Aidan Tuite; Kevin O’ Reilly(0-02), Colm Doherty, Jason Fox; Ciarán Finnerty, Felim O’Rourke(0-05), Niall Morley
Subs: Paddy Doherty(1-00), Mark Jordan, James Hegarty(0-01), Craig Nolan(1-01)
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