Skryne continue their dismal run with defeat to Ballinabrackey in the Relegation Quarter Final
Skryne 1-12, Ballinabrackey 0-16
Fairyhouse Steel Senior Football Championship. Relegation Quarter Final
Sunny Summerhill was the venue for this SFC relegation quarter-final with Skryne struggling to find the form that will help them retain their Senior status. That coupled with a crippling injury list sees the Taramen grappling for survival.
Skryne couldn’t have asked for a better start in this crucial Relegation Quarter final when Stephen O’Brien fetched the throw-in and launched a ball into the Skryne full-forward line. Oisín Keogh palmed it down to Mark Battersby who swept the ball past the Ballinabrackey goalkeeper Dean Pluck to take an early lead. A pointed free from Ian Davis and a fisted point from Conor O’Brien after great work from Andrew Moore who turned over possession in the run-up to the score, saw Skryne move five points clear in as many minutes. Danny Quinn opened the Bracks account with two points in a row(1 free) before Damien Carroll saw his shot at goal superbly pushed away by Skryne netminder Felim O’Rourke who dived low to his right at full stretch to deny Carroll. Shane Smyth and Ian Davis(a free) added 2 points for Skryne who were full value for their 5-point lead at the quarter-hour mark. Damien Carroll pulled one back for Ballinabrackey before Oisín Keogh hit a double to ensure Skryne kept the Bracks at arm’s length. Ballinabrackey did come into the game in the last 10 minutes of the half outscoring Skryne by 3 points to 1 with Damien Carroll accurate from the placed ball adding 2, while Niall Smullen banked another for the men from South West Meath. Ian Davis swung a point over for Skryne after a good move involving David Rathborne and Oisín Keogh. Skryne went into the break with a 4-point lead and looked comfortable. Skryne 1-07, Ballinabrackey 0-06.
The second half was a horror show for Skryne. After an excellent opening half, Skryne seemed to flick a kill switch at half-time and were to produce a terrible second half which was largely dominated by the men in green. Indeed Ballinabrackey, who to their credit came out with all guns blazing, hit the opening 3 points of the half to reduce the lead to just a single point. Ballinabrackey survived a scare on the 10-minute mark when a long-range effort from Ciarán Lenehan struck the upright and dropped into the penalty area. Alas, the Bracks managed to clear their lines. Conor O’Brien hit a second fisted point when he ran in from the left-hand side and punched over. This should have steadied the Skryne ship, but Ballinabrackey had other ideas as they went on a scoring spree, hitting 6 points in as many minutes to move 3 points clear with just over 10 minutes remaining. Skryne were at sixes and sevens and were struggling around the middle of the park after Ciarán Lenehan had picked up an ankle injury. A Mark Battersby pointed free was quickly canceled out by Danny Quinn. Batts struck another point from play but again the Bracks hit back with Seán Kavanagh finding the target. Ballinabrackey also managed to spurn a huge goal opportunity when they were awarded a penalty late on. The game would have been out of Skryne’s reach, but the penalty was missed after the shot was blazed to the left and wide of the Skryne goal. Skryne threw on fresh legs in a bid to salvage the game and Battersby with a free and Oisín Keogh with a fine point reduced the deficit to the minimum as the game entered injury time. Skryne pressed forward for an equaliser but fired 2 shots wide and then referee Andrew Smith blew the full-time whistle much to the jubilation and relief of the men from Ballinabrackey who hung on for a victory that saw them retain their Senior status. Meanwhile, Skryne have to fight for survival again as they face Na Fianna, who could easily have been playing a quarter-final proper this weekend but instead found themselves facing defeat against Seneschalstown to see them land a relegation semi-final tie, not the semi-final they had been thinking about a week ago.
Skryne need to regroup and focus on the job at hand and that is to secure Senior status for an 87th year
Skryne: Felim O’Rourke; Niall Lenehan, Andrew Moore, James Reeves; David Rathborne, John Finnerty, John O’Regan; Ciarán Lenehan, Stephen O’Brien; Conor O’Brien(0-2), Ian Davis(0-3, 2fs), Patrick Fox; Shane Smyth(0-1), Oisín Keogh(0-3), Mark Battersby(1-3, 2fs).
Subs used: Ciarán Quinn, Padraig Finnerty, Andrew Canavan, Harry Rooney
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