Seamus Connolly Catering A League. Division 1A – Round 6. Skryne 0-14, Dunshaughlin 0-13

A lofty point from young gun James Reeves in the final minute of an exciting game in Fr. Mc Manus Park was enough to seal a narrow victory for Skryne over Dunshaughlin to earn the Taramen a first win in this year’s A League Division 1a.

Skryne began the game well with two early points, the first a free from Ian Davis and then James Reeves intercepted a pass in the Skryne defence and Skryne counter-attacked with Padraig Finnerty firing over from wide on the right. Dunshaughlin opened their account in the 7th minute and then leveled matters 2 minutes later. Padraig Finnerty added his second point after Oisín Keogh won possession and laid the ball off to Finnerty who slotted over from the 20-metre line.  Dunshaughlin again leveled matters as the game reached the midpoint of the half. Skryne were guilty of spurning a number of good scoring opportunities with no less than four shots dropping into the keeper’s hands. Meanwhile, Dunshaughlin hit three points on the bounce as the game moved towards half-time and seemed on the scoreboard at least to be in a comfortable position with a three-point lead. However, two pointed frees in the final minute of the half from Ian Davis reduced the deficit to just one point at the interval. Skryne 0-05, Dunshaughlin 0-06.

Dunshaughlin took their time with their half-time team talk and kept Skryne waiting on the pitch for several minutes. This seemed to spur on the men in blue as they went on somewhat of a scoring spree in the opening two minutes of the half, with the imperious Oisín Keogh, who was making his return from Meath U20 duty, firing over two excellent points while Ian Davis fetched a mark and slotted over his fourth of the game. Dunshaughlin pointed a free and then Keogh, who was immense in the second half, added his third point to give Skryne a two-point lead. Three points in a row saw Dunshaughlin edge ahead by the minimum. Patrick Fox swung over a point to level the game again at the midway point of the half with 10 points each. Dunshaughlin rallied again adding two points to their tally before substitute Mark Battersby pointed a free for Skryne. Dunshaughlin again moved two points clear with four minutes remaining when they pointed a free and Skryne looked like they may be staring defeat in the face, but the Taramen had other ideas. Oisín Keogh kicked off the comeback with his fourth point of the game. Mark Battersby then fed a ball to John Finnerty in the inside right corner. Finnerty turned inside and slotted over with his left foot to equalise in the final minute. Skryne won the kick out and worked the ball to James Reeves who ran at the Dunshaughlin defence before stroking over a brilliant point from around 30 metres out to edge Skryne ahead. Dunshaughlin didn’t give up and Richie Kealy’s charges pressed forward in search of an equaliser, but the Skryne defence held firm and showed great discipline to thwart any attacks that came their way as the men in blue held on for a well-deserved victory.

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