Donaghmore Ashbourne just too strong for Skryne in PFC Division 1 final
Skryne 1-07 Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-13
Premier Football Championship. Division 1, Final.
Skryne’s second team have had a fantastic season since the return of football. They had convincing victories over Seneschalstown, Gaeil Colmcille and Summerhill in the group stages of the PFC which earned them a final place against a strong Donaghmore/Ashbourne team who were playing Intermediate football in 2019. The sun shone brightly in Pairc Tailteann and under the new ‘Level 2’ restrictions, a crowd of 200 spectators were allowed in to cheer their teams on. A stiff breeze blowing towards the hospital end had quite a bearing on the game with the team playing towards the hospital end finding scores much easier to come by.
Skryne had the benefit of this wind in the first half. The game got off to a blistering start with Cillian Hegarty finding his range inside the opening minute as Donaghmore/Ashbourne opened the scoring. However Skryne had an almost instantaneous reply when a high ball was sent into the Skryne full-forward line. The bounce deceived full-back Jack Giles and John Morley found himself one on one with the advancing Donaghmore/Ashbourne goalkeeper Jack Hannigan. Morley slipped the ball past Hannigan into the bottom right corner of the net for a goal to Skryne with a little over a minute on the clock. Donaghmore/Ashbourne hit three points in a row, with Kevin Fenton, Darragh O’Sullivan and John Broderick all getting on the scoresheet. Two superb long range points from Colm Doherty and Ronan McCabe edged Skryne ahead as the game broke for the first waterbreak.
Jason Reddy opened the scoring in the second quarter with a point for Skryne. A John Broderick free for Donaghmore/Ashbourne kept them in touch. As the half neared an end, John Morley fired over another excellent long range point from near the right hand side touchline. Despite all of Skryne’s good work in the first half, they were hit with a sucker punch with the last play of the first half. David Carr lofted a high ball into the Skryne penalty area. The ball was contested in the air but rebounded to the incoming Donaghmore/Ashbourne midfielder Seán Noone who made no mistake as he shot low past Des McAvinney into the bottom left corner of the net, to see Donaghmore/Ashbourne lead by a point at the break.
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Skryne faced the wind in the second half. Two points from Neil Burke(1 free) inside the opening three minutes of the half saw Skryne edge back ahead but they weren’t to score again for the next 26 minutes. Evan Quinn drew Donaghmore/Ashbourne level before a trio of points from corner forward Darragh O’Sullivan saw Donaghmore/Ashbourne open up a three point gap as the game broke for the second half water break.
The game resumed and Skryne had a goal bound shot from Frank Carty blocked by the Donaghmore/Ashbourne defence. The ball was worked up the pitch by Donaghmore/Ashbourne and Kevin Fenton converted a point. Donaghmore/Ashbourne continued to push forward and John Broderick capped a fine performance with three points(1 free) in the last five minutes with just the one reply from Skryne, a Jason Fox point from the left hand side. The final whistle went and it was the men from Ashbourne that were jubilant. Full-time: Skryne 1-07, Donaghmore/Ashbourne 1-13.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne deserved their victory, but credit must go to these Skryne lads who battled all the way and never gave up. Manager David Harrington gave a rousing team talk to the lads at the end of the game and they will no doubt be back next year with either the Premier team or the Senior team to make up for this year’s disappointment.
In an emotional acceptance speech Donaghmore/Ashbourne captain Iarlaith O’ Donnell dedicated the victory to his brother Odhran who sadly passed away in September 2019. While losing a final is always disappointing, this poignant moment put things firmly in perspective.
Skryne – Des McAvinney. Timmy Lennon, Mark Harrington, Dermot Brennan. Frank Carty, Michael Doherty, Kris Kinsella. David McGoldrick, Colm Doherty. Ronan McCabe(0-1), Neil Burke (0-2, 1f), Niall Morley. Jason Reddy(0-1), Aidan Tuite, John Morley(1-1).
Subs used: Patrick Fox, Craig Nolan, Jason Fox(0-1), Barry Clarke
Donaghmore/Ashbourne – Jack Hannigan. Aaron McLoughlin, Jack Giles, Ryan Bannon. Shane Rae, Iarlaith O’ Donnell, David Carr. Colm O’Mealoid, Seán Noone(1-0). Kevin Fenton(0-3), Evan Quinn(0-1), Cillian Hegarty(0-1). Luke Barrett, John Broderick(0-5, 2fs), Darragh O’Sullivan(0-3, 2fs).
Subs used: Kevin Lannigan, Killian Hogan, Alan Murtagh
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