Skryne bowed out of the senior football championship last night (13 Sept) as Wolfe Tones earned a semi-final spot with a 3 – 12 to 3 – 10 victory in Pairc Tailteann. However heading into the final quarter Wolfe Tones thought they had this one safely under the bellt when they led by 3 – 10 to 1 – 8 thanks to goals from Eanna Harrington and Cian Ward. Many in the attendance thought that Skryne would fold completely at this stage but a goal from Kevin Mulvany with eight minutes left gave the Skryne side hope of a recovery. The goal was disputed by the Wolfe tones but it appears that in attempting to stop Mulvany the Tones goalkeeper David Nolan knocked the ball into his own goal and the score was allowed to stand. There was also controversy at the end of the game when referee Patrick Neilis allowed only one minute for broken play when most in the attendance would have expected about three minutes. The game itself got off to good start for the Oristown side with Cian Ward getting the opening score. Ward went on to score a total of 1 – 6 on the night. Points from Stephen Shepard and two more for Ward had the Tones four points ahead with ten minutes on the clock. However the Tara men upped their game and won a penalty which Ian Davis expertly drove to the back of the net. Three minutes later Ciaran Lenehean was fouled after the ball had gone and a close in free was slotted over by David McGoldrick. Cian Ward scored a further free on sixteen minutes for a one point advantage. Then Tones took a decisive grip of the game with their opening goal. A line ball from Ward fell short and a poor clearance out of defence came back to him. His cross was not properly dealt with and Stephen Shepard fisted it to the back of the net. Eanna Harrington made it a five point game with twenty five minutes gone. However, the Skryne side was never going to let this game get out of reach and two points from Paddy O’Rourke, one from a free, and a point from Paddy Fox for a single point from Fiacra Ward saw the teams go in at half time on a score line of Wolfe Tones 1 – 8, Skryne 1 – 5.
Two early second half points from Mark Battersby saw the deficit reduced to a single point. Battersby was having a really effective game and with thirty five minutes gone put in a good cross ball to Ian Davis but his effort to knock the ball to the net came back of the crossbar and was cleared. Alan Fox made it 1 – 9 to 1 – 7 for Wolfe Tones with thirty nine minutes gone and a minute later Eanna Harrington got Tones second goal. Paddy O’Rourke scored a fine point from about fifty meters but this was replied to by Cian Ward with a goal. Ward followed this up with two pointed frees to make the score Wolfe Tones 3 – 11 Skryne 1 – 8. Most other teams would have given up at this point but Skryne were not going to throw in the towel without a fight and Paddy Fox pulled a point back on forty nine minutes. Kevin Mulvany then got the previously mentioned controversial goal making it a five point game. Ward again widened the margin to six points with time running out. Skryne threw everything they had into attack and when corner back Mark Jordan found himself with the ball in front of Wolfe Tones goals he buried the ball in the back of the net. There was still six minutes of regulation time to play and a minute later Paddy O’Rourke made it a two point game with another long range point. It was now anybody’s game but try as they might Skryne could not bridge the gap and the Oristown side held out for a semi-final spot. Considerable annoyance was expressed at the end of the match for the inordinately short time allocated for broken play as the Skryne side bowed out of this year’s championship but the Tara men must be proud of the never say die attitude they displayed when matters looked way beyond any normal side. However it is last years defeated finalists who march on to the semi-finals.
Skryne – Felim O’Rourke; Declan Morley, Martin Mulvaney, Mark Jordan (1-0); David McGoldrick (0-2 fs), Ciaran Lenehan, Ronan McCabe; Aidan Tuite, Harry Rooney; Paddy Fox (0-2), Ian Davis (1-0 pen), Conor O’Brien; Brian Davis, Paddy O’Rourke (0-4 3fs), Mark Battersby (0-2). Subs – Kevin Mulvaney (1-0) for O’Brien (45), Dermot Brennan for McGoldrick, Allan Carty for McCabe (both 48), Kevin O’Reilly for Davis (50).
Tones – David Nolan; Niall O’Reilly, Ciaran McLoughlin, Richard Brady; Shane Glynn, Eoghan Harrington, Niall McLoughlin; Stephen Corrigan, Alan Callaghan; Mark Coleman, Stephen Sheppard (1-2), Eanna Harrington (1-1); Alan Fox (0-1), Fiachra Ward (0-1), Cian Ward (1-7, 0-5 fs). Subs – Paddy Caffrey for Glynn (52), David Coleman for O’Reilly (58).
Referee : P. Neilis (Kilmainham)
