Injury time penalty secures last gasp victory for Skryne
St. Colmcilles 3-11, Skryne 4-09
Premier Football Championship. Division 5, Group B – Round 3.
In a dramatic finalé in Piltown an Aidan Gill penalty in injury time secured what was looking to be an unlikely victory for Skryne in Round 3 of the Premier Football Championship – Division 5.
St. Colmcilles opened the scoring with a quickfire point inside the opening minute of the half. Skryne advanced forward and Aidan Gill sent a high ball towards the Cilles goal. It looked to be tailing to the left and wide, but Felim O’Rourke managed to keep it in play and centred to Sean Cassidy who palmed the ball to the Cilles net for Skryne’s opening goal. Brian Smyth tapped over another point for Skryne. After adding another point to their tally St. Colmcilles were next to register a goal when their corner forward found space on the left hand side and advanced on the Skryne goal before firing a rasper at the Skryne goal which was brilliantly parried away by Skryne keeper Gary Browne. However, another Cilles forward was quickest to react and he smashed the rebound into the back of the Skryne net. Another point a minute later saw Cilles lead by 1-3 to 1-1 at the first water break.
Almost immediately following the resumption the Cilles hit their second goal when despite the attention of the Skryne defenders a Cilles forward managed to square the ball in front of the Skryne goal and it was palmed to the net. Skryne were struggling to find the target at this stage and registered several wides before the Cilles extended their lead to 6 points with a well taken point. Aidan Gill lifted the Skryne spirits when he scored a superb long range point from near the left hand touchline. Colmcilles hit the final score of the half on the stroke of half-time to leave the half-time score: St. Colmcilles 2-05, Skryne 1-02.
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The third quarter saw Skryne reel in the Cilles. An opening point from Felim O’ Rourke was quickly followed by Skryne’s second goal when Brian Smyth put Martin Mulvany through on goal and he slid the ball past the Cilles keeper. Aidan Gill added to his tally with another point but the Cilles responded with a point of their own. Felim O’ Rourke had a glorious chance of a goal 11 minutes into the half after Brian Smyth sent him through on goal. However his powerful effort sailed over. It was O’Rourke again who managed to get the equalising score, a free after Sean Cassidy was fouled around 30 yards from goal, but protestations from the Cillesmen saw the ball moved forward and O’Rourke had an easy task of tapping over the free. It could be said that things were going a little too well for Skryne at this point, but the Cilles suddenly sprang to life again and scored a goal and two points without reply to open the gap to five points again. The goal coming from a high lofted mishit effort at a point which dropped short into the Skryne square. The Cilles forwards contested the ball with Skryne keeper Gary Browne who did well to get a fist to the ball which sent it back out the way it came. However, another Cilles forward collected the ball and sent it to the Skryne net for their third goal. All credit to Skryne, they attacked forward and just when it looked like the attack had been broken down, Alex Grendon was fed the ball to the right hand side of the Cilles goal. He was the right man in the right place and he sent a powerful shot to the back of the Cilles net to draw Skryne back into the game just before the whistle sounded for the second water break.
The sides swapped scores upon the resumption with Martin Mulvany and Aidan Gill pointing for Skryne while Colmcilles also hit two points. The game entered injury time and Cilles looked to be home and hosed. However, Skryne had other ideas and the man of the match Aidan Gill collected the ball on the 21 yard line. He was surrounded by the Colmcilles defence who fouled him in their desperate attempts to keep Skryne at bay. Following protestations from the Cilles, referee Ciarán O’ Floinn moved the ball forward and to the centre of the goal for a free on the 13 yard line. Skryne needed a goal and the Colmcilles men were eager to stop the quick potshot from Felim O’Rourke. Despite warnings from the referee to retreat the required distance to allow the free to be taken, a Colmcilles defender loitered in the vicinity of the free and when Felim went to unleash his shot, the Cilles defender stuck out his foot from less than a yard away and blocked the shot. Referee O’Floinn awarded a penalty to Skryne for the infraction. Aidan Gill stepped up and slotted the penalty into the left corner of the goal to send Skryne ahead by a single point with less than a minute remaining. Cilles did have time to mount another attack in search of the equaliser and looked to have secured the ideal opportunity when they won a 45. However, the Cilles man sent the 45 wide and with it any chance of stopping Skryne’s march to the final. Final score: St. Colmcilles 3-11, Skryne 4-09.
Skryne will now face Group A winners Syddan in the final of Division 5, date to be decided.
Skryne: Gary Browne; Liam Gill, Tomás McKeown, Paddy O’Leary; Paul McGoldrick, Ciarán Finnerty, Conor Whelan; Kevin Reilly, Alex Grendon; Jack O’Donnell, Felim O’Rourke, Seán Cassidy; Aidan Gill, Brian Smyth, Martin Mulvany.
Subs used: David Rathbourne, Niall Morland, Bryan Clarke
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