Skryne Ladies travelled to Trim on Sunday 24th June to take on Oldcastle in the League Final but came up short on the evening. The sides met earlier in this league campaign with theTara side recording a narrow victory on that occasion. The conditions were good for this encounter with the Trim pitch in tip top condition.
The first half is probably best forgotten from a Skryne perspective as we saw the Tara side completely outclassed by a sharper more determined OldCastle. In fact we had to wait until the 22nd minute before we saw Skryne register their first and only score of the half when Catriona Keoghan had a point from play. By this stage of the half Oldcastle had 2 – 7 on the board. It was hard to credit how much off the pace Skryne were in all sectors of the pitch and this display was totally at odds with previous performances in this League campaign. The 26th minute saw Old Castle finish of the scoring when they found the back of the Skryne net again to leave the half time scores:
Old Castle 3 – 7. Skryne 0 – 1.
The second half started no better for the Taraside when we saw their opponent’s bag two goals in the 31st and 32nd minutes to virtually put the game beyond Skryne’s reach at this early stage. However, the 33rd minute showed theTara side had no intention of rolling over when half forward Melanie Kirwan found the opponents net to narrow the gap.OldCastle responded within a minute with a point from play to keep the pressure on the Skryne side.
The Tara side were now finding their game and looked more composed and confident on the ball when Ruth Moore split the opponents uprights on the 40th minute followed by a goal from full forward Michelle Whelan on the 43rd minute to somewhat claw back Old Castle. The Skryne supporters were now urging their side on and Colleen Jordan obliged when she struck three points from placed balls between the 45th and 53rd minutes to eat further into their opponents lead. In between this Old Castle had a point from play to maintain their edge and keep Skryne at bay. Skryne continued to pile on the pressure and the 55th minute saw half forward Colleen Jordan rattle theOldCastle net to send jitters down their opponent’s spines. The final scores of the evening were shared by the sides with a point each from play to leave Old Castle League winners on a scoreline:
Old Castle 5 – 10. Skryne 3 – 6.
This was a below par performance from the Skryne side for most of this game and the first half performance is best forgotten as previously stated. Skryne had a nightmare start to the second half when OldCastlestruck two goals in the opening minutes to virtually put the game beyond our reach so early in the game. However, full credit to the fighting spirit of this Skryne side as they battled on gamely for most of the second half and indeed were on top of the action from the 35th minute onwards. TheTara side left themselves with too high a mountain to climb and the opening stages of each half proved to be their downfall. Skryne can take some solace from the fact we outscored our opponents in the second half by 3 – 5 to 2 – 3 and this is something to build on. The upcoming Junior Championship beckons and if we can replicate our second half performance throughout the whole game then we will be as force to contend with. So well done Ladies on reaching the final and it is onwards and upwards from here on in.
Team – Onagh Morley; Niamh O’Brien, Niamh Lynch, Deidre Kennedy; Orla Cragie, Eimear Finnerty, Saoirse McGrath; Aishling Bowens, Cartiona Keoghan{0-1}; Melanie Kirwan{1-0}, Colleen Jordan{1-3}, Ruth Moore{0-2}; Eimear O’Brien, Michelle Whelan{1-0}, Eimear Clarke; Subs – Aoife Swan for Niamh O’Brien, Megan O’Brien for Saoirse McGrath, Kate Moore for Catriona Keoghan, Sinead O’Kane for Eimear Clarke, Anita O’Sullivan for Eimear O’Brien
