Seamus Connolly Catering A League. Division 1A – Round 5. Summerhill 1-10, Skryne 0-08

Skryne’s defence were excellent during a low-scoring first half, but Summerhill breached the defence midway through the second half when Davy Dalton picked up a pass in the full-forward line, spun to his right and ran in on goal before dispatching the ball low to the right-hand side of the net. The goal came at a crucial stage in the game as Skryne had reduced a five-point deficit to just two and looked to be in the ascendancy. Skryne looked deflated after the goal and never really recovered as Summerhill saw the game out to pick up both points to stay in the hunt for another League Final.

Padraig Finnerty opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock when he hit a long range shot that just evaded the grasp of goal-keeper Seán Muddiman who reached up above the bar to try and fetch the shot. Both sides were guilty of missing a number of early chances before Summerhill opened their account in the 13th minute. A hat-trick of points from Kevin Ryan saw them stretch their lead to three, but points from Oisín Keogh(2) and Shane Smyth saw Skryne draw level as the game reached the half-way mark. Half-time: Summerhill 0-04, Skryne 0-04.

Skryne needed more of the same work rate in the second half, but things didn’t go quite to plan as Summerhill hit five points in a row without a reply from Skryne with Liam Shaw(2) and that man Kevin Ryan(3) accounting for their scores. Skryne finally hit back on the 13th minute when Ciarán Quinn opened his account with a fine left-footed shot. Padraig Finnerty hit his second point of the game before Ciarán Quinn added another to reduce the deficit to just two points with 12 minutes remaining. From the kickout, Summerhill won possession and worked the ball forward to Dalton who hit the goal that broke Skryne’s spirit. Two late frees, one from each side (Skryne’s from the boot of Padraig Finnerty) were the only remaining scores as Summerhill ran out victors on a scoreline of Summerhill 1-10, Skryne 0-08.

With Dunshaughlin beating Trim this evening, Skryne now drop into the bottom two in the league table and will have a battle on their hands to retain their Division 1 status with just two games remaining. Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin sit just 1 point above them in the table and those sides play each other in the next round. If Skryne can beat Gaeil Colmcille and either Dunshaughlin or Dunboyne lose, then Skryne will move back out of the bottom two and will have their own fate back in their hands in the last game against Ratoath. But there are a lot of ifs and buts here. Skryne need to focus on themselves and try to get a victory or two in the last two games. The team are showing real signs of improvement in recent games and with so many young players involved(several who are starting their leaving cert next week), the league campaign is giving the new blood much-needed experience as they prepare for the championship.

Skryne: Cian Donohoe; David Rathbourne, Andrew Moore, Niall Lenehan; Tommy Carpenter, Ciarán Lenehan, Ciarán Quinn(0-2); James Reeves, Michael Doherty; Andrew Canavan, Padraig Finnerty(0-3, 1f), Shane Smyth(0-1), Mark Battersby, Oisín Keogh(0-2), Paddy Carpenter.

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