Dunshaughlin snatch a draw
Dunshaughlin 0-14 Skryne 1-11
Premier Football Championship. Division 1 – Round 3.
Skryne produced an excellent first half performance in this Premier Football Championship Division 1 game to take a well deserved half-time lead. But the old achillies heel of indiscipline was to prove costly in the second half as Skryne relinquished a 2 point lead at the end of normal time only to end the game in a draw when Dunshaughlin grabbed a last gasp equaliser.
Dunshaughlin opened the scoring in the first half with a point from their dangerous corner forward. After that it was the Neil Burke show. Burkey was superb in the first half scoring a total of 1-06, all of Skryne’s first half scores. His first score, the goal started with a pass from Burkey himself into the left corner to the superb Oisín Keogh. Keogh gathered the ball and worked his way infield before returning the ball to Burkey who hit a chipped effort towards the Dunshaughlin goal which dipped into the top left corner of the net. Keith Donoghue forced a save from the Dunshaughlin keeper a minute later as Skryne exerted pressure on the Dunshaughlin defence. Neil Burke added his first point, a free after Oisín Keogh was fouled. His next point came immediately from the kickout when he hit a fine point from distance over the bar. Burkey was on hand again slotting over another free before Dunshaughlin hit the next two points to leave the scoreline at the first water break Dunshaughlin 0-3, Skryne 1-03.
The second quarter saw the sides trade points, three each, the best a sublime effort from Burke who drove over with the outside of his boot from out near the 40. Skryne were good value for their lead at half time. Half-time score: Dunshaughlin 0-6, Skryne 1-6.
[metaslider id=18622]
The second half saw Oisín Keogh hit his first point inside the opening minute. Dunshaughlin replied immediately before Keogh was on target again after Jack O’Donnell fought hard to win the ball from the dogged Dunshaughlin defence and then laid it off to Keogh who fired over. Jason Reddy added another for Skryne who moved five points ahead. Dunshaughlin upped the physicality in the second half and set about unsettling the Skrynemen from their first half ryhthm. A melee erupted midway through the third quarter which saw a number of players get involved in pushing and shoving. Referee Richard Morris issued yellow cards and the game continued but a number of Skryne players had gotten riled up by the melee and struggled to regain their focus as Dunshaughlin set about reducing the deficit. They added the next two points without a reply to leave the score at the water break Dunshaughlin 0-9, Skryne 1-9.
All Skryne needed to do was stay calm, but panic seemed to set in and the first Skryneman saw red when he was deemed to have retaliated following close attention from a Dunshaughlin defender. Dunshaughlin began to up the ante and picked off the next point to reduce the deficit to two. Des McAvinney was called into action twice to save two point blank shots from the maurauding Dunshaughlin forward line. Their star corner forward added another two points to level the game. Oisín Keogh replied with an excellent point to edge Skryne ahead again as the game approached the end of normal time. Another point from John Morley looked to have secured the victory, but Dunshaughlin hit the front foot again. The Dunshaughlin number 12 was making a beeline towards the Skryne goal when he was stopped in his tracks by a Skryne defender. The challenge earned a red card for the Skryneman and so Skryne saw themselves reduced to 13 men for the closing stages of the match. Dunshaughlin converted the free and were now back within one. It was a case of ‘if only’ for Skryne as Dunshaughlin punished Skryne’s indiscipline with an equaliser with the last kick of the game.
Despite showing some real quality in this game, particularly from Neil Burke and Oisín Keogh, Skryne are still without a win and are languishing at the bottom of the Division 1 table. Up next are Wolfe Tones at home in Skryne. Skryne could do with a win to kickstart this campaign.
Skryne: Des McAvinney; Barry Clarke, David Carroll, Jack Dardis; Frank Carty, Michael Doherty, Kristoffer Kinsella; Patrick Fox, Tommy Carpenter; Keith Donoghue, Neil Burke (1-6, 4fs), Jack O’Donnell; Oisín Keogh (0-3) Paddy Carpenter, Jason Reddy(0-1).
Subs used: John Morley(0-1), Aidan Tuite
–
