Junior A Football Championship. Grp C - Rnd 3. Skryne 2-09 Dunshaughlin 3-12

Skryne 2-09 Dunshaughlin 3-12

Junior A Football Championship, Group C – Round 3

Skryne took to a perfect Kilbride pitch yesterday evening to face neighbours Dunshaughlin in Round 3 of the Junior A Football Championhip. Skryne faced into a stiff breeze in the first half and Dunshaughlin were determined to make the most of the wind advantage as they pushed forward with every opportunity in the early parts of the game. In fact they really should have bagged a couple of goals inside the first five minutes, but some poor shooting and a missed penalty ensured that Skryne stayed in touch.

Dunshaughlin opened the scoring with a point inside the first minute. They immediately squandered an excellent goal-scoring opportunity when they shot wide when it seemed impossible to miss. In the next attack they won a penalty when one of their forwards broke free in front of goal and went down under a last ditch challenge from the Skryne defence. The referee pointed to the spot but amazingly the penalty was blasted wide as Dunshaughlin continued to spurn opportunities. Skryne began to settle into the game and Jason Reddy poached a fine point from the right hand side to level matters. An Ian Davis effort just fell short as Skryne threatened to take the lead. Dunshaughlin tacked on another point before Davis found his range and registered his first point of the day. Another Dunshaughlin point was quickly followed by a sucker punch of a goal which came from a sideline ball on the near side. The ball was pumped into the heart of the Skryne defence where a Dunshaughlin man got on the end and finished to the net. Skryne reduced the deficit to two points with an Allan Carty point and a free from Ian Davis. However two singles from Dunshaughlin cancelled out these efforts. Jason Reddy added his second point of the day with another fine effort from the right hand side. Dunshaughlin hit a purple patch in the final five minutes of the half as they added their second goal of the game followed by two points with only a single reply from Darren Fox to leave the half-time score: Skryne 0-06, Dunshaughlin 2-07.

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Many of the Skryne supporters who were looking on were resigned to the fact that Skryne had too much to do to claw back the large deficit, but Skryne looked determined to prove them wrong. Almost straight from the throw in Ian Davis rampaged through the middle of the Dunshaughlin defence brushing aside all tackles before smashing the ball into the top left corner of the Dunshaughlin goal. Davis continued to torment the Dunshaughlin defence as he added another point. Dunshaughlin seemed to stem the tide when they opened their second half scoring with a point from play. Ian Davis who had obviously had his weetabix at half-time got on the end of another Skryne attack to finish to the net again for Skryne’s second goal. The gap was now down to one point and Dunshaughlin were under the cosh. They made a foray forward and picked off another point before Skryne pushed forward again and were denied what seemed to be a good claim for a penalty. While still protesting, Dunshaughlin counter-attacked and stole a third goal which was to knock the stuffing out of the Skryne comeback. Skryne were guilty of trying too hard to reduce the deficit and on several occassions took pot shots from distance when better options were available. Meanwhile Dunshaughlin were the more clinical and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Skryne did add a point from Ian Davis and another from Craig Nolan. They also had a couple of goal chances which might have offered some hope of reeling in the men in Black and Amber. However, Dunshaughlin held on for a deserved victory. Skryne fought until the end and showed a lot of spirit throughout but just fell short. Final score: Skryne 2-09, Dunshaughlin 3-12

Skryne: Des Mc Avinney; Tommy Carpenter, Mark Harrington, David Carroll; Keith Donoghue, Niall Lenehan, James Hegarty; Colm Doherty, Darren Fox(0-01); Jason Fox, Ian Davis(2-04,1f), Frank Carty; Jason Reddy(0-02), Allan Carty(0-01), Kevin O’Reilly

Subs: Niall Morley, Craig Nolan(0-01)