Skryne 5 – 11
St. Michaels 5 – 10
Skryne got their U19 League campaign off to a winning start when they just managed to slip by their opponents St. Michaels on Saturday evening 29th September in their home ground,FatherMcManusPark.
The game got underway at 7pm under lights indicating the closing in of the evenings and winter on its way. The conditions were near perfect with not a puff of wind evident and the pitch in top class condition despite the fact the Senior Championship quarter final between Seneschalstown and Summerhill was played on the pitch just prior to this game.
The home side opened the scoring in the 3rd minute when corner forward Eimear O’Brien had the ball in the back of the St. Michaels following on from a lay off from full forward Ruth Moore.
TheSt.Michaels response was almost immediate when they found the back of the Skryne net a minute later to level matters at this early stage.
Goals appeared to be the order of the day when Skryne struck their second goal on the 5th minute which was a mirror image of their first with Ruth Moore again linking up with the home sides corner forward Eimear O’Brien to claim her second goal thus far.
The game was now end to end stuff with St. Michaels determined to show the quality of their side and this quality was demonstrated on the 7th minute when they struck another goal to again level the game.
St.Michaels got their noses of front for the first time when they had an excellent point from play on the 9th minute. This lead was to prove short lived when the Skryne full forward Ruth Moore converted a free kick to restore parity between the sides on the 11th minute.
The Taraside got back in front again on the 15th minute when wing back Megan O’Brien found half forward Saoirse McGrath who in turn set up Ruth Moore who split the posts to put the home side back in front.
We were not at the mid way stage of the opening half and it was evident we were in for an epic encounter. The 17th minute saw the sides again draw leave when the St. Michaels number 8 scored what can only be described as an excellent point after a run all the way from mid field cutting through the Skryne defence in the process.
St.Michaels were back in front for the second time in the game when they had another top class point from play on the 18th minute followed by another well taken point also from play on the 19th minute to leave them two points to the good.
The next few minutes saw the Taraside send three attempts wide of the posts before their opponents had a wide of their own on the 21st minute.
The same minute saw Skryne half forward Saoirse McGrath get into the scoring action when she had a well struck point from play following on from a pass from wing back Orla Criagie to leave the minimum between the sides.
St.Michaels again stretched their lead on the 24th minute with a point from play and they missed a point scoring opportunity a minute later to leave their lead at two points in the dying minutes of the half.
The sides were battling hard to get on to top before the end of the half and the 26th minute saw Deidre Kennedy the Tara sides half back find Saoirse McGrath who sent an excellent pass to Megan O’Brien and Megan put the ball over the bar to again leave just a point between the sides.
Skryne were back in front when a link up between Megan O’Brien and Ruth Moore resulted in a third goal for the home side when Ruth rattled the back of the St. Michaels net giving her side a two point advantage in the closing minutes of the half.
The scoring for the half was closed out by St. Michaels when they added on a further point on the 29th minute leaving the scores:
Skryne 3 – 4. St. Michaels 2 – 6.
The second half started with a point between the sides but this was not for long when Eimear Clarke Skryne half forward found the back of the opponents net in the 32nd minute to create a bit of daylight between the sides.St.Michaels responded within a minute with a point from play to stay well in the chase.
The Taraside were back on the scoreboard in the 34th minute when centre fielder Catriona Keoghan took an excellent point from play to again open up a four point lead.
The exchanges throughout the field were intense with both sides battling hard to stamp their authority and the 40th minute saw St. Michaels win a free kick which they put between the uprights to claw back the home side slightly.
Skryne keeper Roisin Gryson was called into the action on the 41st minute when she pulled off an excellent save to prevent what looked like a certain goal from the visitors.
The Tara side were now trying to press home their advantage and the 42nd minute saw them take another step in that direction when full forward Ruth Moore tagged on another point from play to open up a four point gap.
Skryne were now on the up and up and the 45th / 46th minutes saw the ever dependable half forward Melanie Kirwan tag on a further two points from play to establish a significant gap between the sides at this stage in favour of Skryne.
St.Michaels were still battling hard but unfortunately for them they saw their next three attempts go wide of the uprights. This was in no small part due to the tight marking of Onagh Morley and Aoife Swan in the Skryne full back line denying their opponents any chance of an easy attempt at goal.
In the 50th minute St. Michaels found the target when they had a well taken point from play followed almost immediately with another missed attempt this time due to the close attention of Orla Criagie in the Skryne half back line.
The Taraside were determined to maintain their edge when we saw Saoirse McGrath split the uprights after taking a pass from Ruth Moore to keep her side on course on the 51st minute. St. Michaels responded to this almost immediately with an excellent point from lay to stay in the chase. Stay in the chase they definitely did when they rattled the back of the Skryne net on the 53rd minute leaving two points between the sides in the closing stages.
We were witnessing a Royal battle between two fine sides with each one refusing to yield an inch and the 54th minute saw the ever impressive Skryne corner forward Eimear O’Brien strike her hat trick of goals to put a fair bit of daylight between the sides almost at the death. The Tara side looked to be home and hosed when Ruth Moore struck another point for the home side on the 55th minute.
St.Michaels were obviously not reading from the Skryne script when they put one past the Skryne keeper to claim their fourth goal of the evening putting the game right back in the melting pot on the 56th minute.
It was now nerve rattling stuff for both sets of backs with the forward lines throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them.
The home side could see the finishing line and were doing everything in their power to cross it. However, they did not help their cause when their next two attempts missed the target in the 58th / 59th minutes respectively.
St. Michaels made one last ditch effort to rescue the game and the home supporters looked on in disbelief when the visitors found the back of the Tarasides net to draw the game on the 61st minute.
Both sets of supporters were now urging on their team for one last effort and that final effort came form the boot of the ever dependable Skryne half forward Melanie Kirwan. Melanie collected the ball on the 21 yard line and made no mistake when she pointed to pull the game out of the fire for the Taraside on the 62nd minute.
Team – Roisin Gryson; Aoife Swan, Onagh Morley, Niamh Monaghan; Deirdre Kennedy, Orla Criaigie, Megan O’Brien{0 – 1}; Catriona Keoghan{0 – 1}, Niamh O’Brien; Eimear Clarke{1 – 0}, Melanie Kirwan{0 – 3}, Saoirse McGrath{0 – 2}; Eimear O’Brien{3 – 0}, Ruth Moore{1 – 4}.
