Skryne are crowned Intermediate Champions of Meath
Skryne 1-07, Na Fianna 0-09
Kepak Ladies Intermediate Football Championship – Final
The tenacious champions bounced back to win with a goal in injury time.
Sunday the 9th of October is a day that will be forever remembered in the Skryne history books as Skryne Ladies won the Intermediate Championship and for the first time ever will be a Senior Team. Skryne supporters had to sweat through up until the 32nd minute of the second half when a last minute goal clinched the victory for the Skryne women.
The conditions invariably had a big role to play in this battle as the wind blew and the rain lashed it down. The Na Fianna girls played with the wind in the first half and made sure to capitalise on this advantage. With a strong wind blowing in their favour they racked up three points in quick succession in the first ten minutes. Skryne answered this brace of points, getting their first score with a well-taken free from Ellie Murphy. This score settled the Skryne girls who began to chip away at the Na Fianna defence and created three fantastic goal chances. One of the goal chances started with an interception from the midfield pairing of Alannah Cooney and Amy O’Dowd who worked relentlessly battling both the elements and their Na Fianna counterparts. This interception led to a well worked play, with Lizzy Morland giving the final pass into Catriona Keoghan who executed a shot on goal that the Na Fianna Keeper just got a hand to and forced it wide. Na Fianna fought back strong and had a few goal chances of their own but nothing was getting past Skryne’s keeper Rachel Whelan who saved two certain goal chances. Both teams battled hard for the rest of the first half, Na Fianna clocked up three more points before a brilliant point from Ciara Smyth kept Skryne in contention. In the dying minutes of the first half, a last attack by Na Fianna saw Skryne under pressure but the rock-solid full back line of Nicola O’Reilly, Alish Lenehan and Ciara Cowley snuffed out any further chance of a score- with O’Reilly saving the ball right off Skryne’s goal line. Half-time score: Na Fianna 0-6 Skryne 0-2.
Although the wind had died down considerably in the second half, Skryne had this advantage and were quick to get off the mark with the first score. A brilliant sequence of play from Fiona O’Rourke and Catriona Keoghan- who both covered a tremendous amount of ground on the day, resulted in a super point from Róisin Mc Manus. The half-back line of Niamh O’Brien, Lisa Browne and Samantha Clarke were superb and were well able to deal with the pressure put on by the Na Fianna forwards, thwarting any attacks and making scoring very difficult for the Enfield women. Another free converted by Ellie Murphy gave Skryne hope of a comeback but the Na Fianna girls had other ideas. They notched up two points with no reply and the Skryne girls were dealt a further blow when Ciara Cowley (a strong contender for player of the match) was sent to the line with a yellow card. Some teams may have collapsed at this point but not these Skryne women. They gritted their teeth, got to work and showed their true spirit and character. The Skryne comeback was on! As they gathered their momentum each player was focused on twinning the next ball. This was highlighted by Róisín McManus who, when the next ball came to her slotted it right over the bar. When the next ball came to Ciara Smyth she was heavily marked by three Na Fianna players, not a problem for a player of Smyth’s caliber- she expertly glided the ball over the bar narrowing the gap to two points. Just as Skryne were getting in their flow, disaster struck – a point for Na Fianna the score was now 0-9 to 0-6 with the time ticking away. But that would be the last score for the Na Fianna girls while the Skryne girls were just getting going. Ciara Cowley was back on the pitch and it was the boost Skryne needed to push on. With minutes to go Skryne won a free right in front of the goals, no problem for sharpshooter Ellie Murphy who sent it sailing over the bar. It was now 0-9 to 0-7, Skryne were down by two in the dying minutes of the game. For Skryne, it looked like the Intermediate Championship was slipping out of their reach but the girls never lost faith. Steffi Finnegan, who played a pivotal role when she came on, started the final attack for Skryne with a pinpoint pass to Lizzy Morland who was fouled and won a free in the Na Fianna half. Captain Nicola O’Reilly took the free giving it back to Morland who let it fly to Ciara Cowley. Cowley floated it straight into the danger zone in front of the Na Fianna goals. Maths teacher Catriona Keoghan knows the importance of numbers and on this day knew number one was key- one chance, one shot, one touch was what it would take to win. She got one touch- a hand to the ball and knocked it straight into the back of the Na Fianna net! Skryne were winning by ONE! That was how it would stay until the final whistle blew sparking huge celebrations for Skryne. History was made as Skryne Ladies became Intermediate Champions of Meath! Final score: Skryne 1-07, Na Fianna 0-09.
Skryne: Rachel Whelan; Ciara Cowley, Ailish Lenehan, Nicola O’Reilly; Samantha Clarke, Lisa Browne, Niamh O’Brien; Ciara Smyth, Alannah Cooney; Ellie Murphy, Amy O’Dowd, Fiona O’Rourke; Lizzy Morland, Catriona Keoghan, Roisín McManus
Subs used: Steffi Finnegan
Skryne Panel: Aoife McLoughlin, Laura Mangan, Niamh Cowley, Caragh Conway, Ava Purcell, Miriam Hayden, Ruth Moore, Emma Loftus, Aisling O’Connor, Destiny Carty, Sophie Finnegan
Manager: Mick O’Dowd
Selectors: Gordon Geraghty, Kierán Kennedy, Martin Kennedy, Adrian Doyle
FLO: Coleen Jordan
Medic: Katie White
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