Skryne ease into quarter finals
Skryne 1-21 Navan O’Mahonys 1-11
Senior Football Championship, Group B – Round 5
The Pope may have been visiting Ireland this weekend but Skryne didn’t require any devine intervention from the Holy Father to advance to the quarter finals of this year’s Fairyhouse Steel Senior Football Championship as they eased past an O’Mahonys team who are in the midst of a transitional period.
O’Mahonys managed to hang onto Skryne’s coat-tails in the opening period. Paddy Fox was Skryne’s star player on the day and his hat-trick of points in the opening half set the tone for things to come as Skryne kept the O’Mahonys at arms length despite the Brews Hill men enjoying the lions share of possession in the first half. Two frees from the boot of Paddy O’Rourke, points from the midfield duo of Harry Rooney and David McGoldrick along with a single from Skryne’s dynamic wing forward Conor O’Brien saw Skryne clock up a tally of 0-08 to O’Mahonys 0-05 at half time.
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The second half was pretty much one way traffic for the Skryne men as they shifted gears early on adding a further four points before O’Mahonys hit a reply. Harry Rooney was immense at midfield all afternoon where he caught every ball. This coupled with his contribution of two points saw him battle with Paddy Fox for the man of the match accolade with little to choose between them. Ian Davis rattled the back of the net for Skryne as they cantered to victory. O’Mahonys did find the net late on but Skryne were home and dry at this stage.
Skryne will face a much stiffer test in the quarter final where they face defending champions Simonstown Gaels who played their final game in Skryne on Friday night against Donaghmore Ashbourne where a late charge from the Ashbourne men saw them snatch a draw. With some big names returning from the U.S after the Summer break, they will have heavier artillery available when they meet Skryne. However, when Skryne have been faced with big challenges this year, they have risen to the task and gotten some big results. The win against Gaeil Colmcille in the fourth round was typical of the fighting spirit that is present in this team. Simonstown will not fancy having to face a Skryne team with their tails up,
Skryne – Des McAvinney; Robbie Clarke, Eoghan Greene, Stephen O’Brien; Ciarán Lenehan, Donal Ryan, Eoin Smyth(0-01); David McGoldrick(0-01), Harry Rooney(0-02); Conor O’Brien (0-03), Darragh Campion, Patrick Fox (0-04); Ian Davis (1-01), Paddy O’Rourke (0-4, 3fs), Mark Battersby (0-04, 1f).
Subs: Ronan McCabe (0-01), Declan Morley, Aidan Tuite, Niall Lenehan, Darren Fox, Mark Harrington
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