SFC Grp A, Round 1. Skryne 0-12 St. Patricks 0-09

Skryne 0-12 St. Patricks 0-09

Fairyhouse Steel Meath GAA Senior Football Championship Group A, Round 1

Despite a shaky start to the year where Skryne had yet to bag a win in the league, Skryne were the bookies favorites going into this first round tie at odds of 7/1 on for a Skryne victory. These odds would seem a little harsh on a team like St. Pats who rarely give up easy victories. Indeed Skryne will have left Duleek this evening knowing full well that they had been in a tough battle. For Skryne the most important thing was to come away from Duleek with a victory and they dug deep to deliver exactly that.

The game started off with both sides swapping scores, Darragh Campion chipping over for Skryne while Donal Landy converted for Pats. Pats almost grabbed a goal but a John Curtis shot was smothered superbly by Ian Gillett. Skryne also had a goal opportunity on the 10th minute when Colm Doherty saw a fine effort rebound off the crossbar to Paddy O’Rourke who fisted over for Skryne’s second point. Donal Landy was on target again for the Pats to level matters, before a Niall Mooney free edged them ahead. Ian Davis cooly slotted over Skryne’s third on the quarter hour mark to square things up once more. Pats hit a purple patch that saw them add another three points without reply. However in the final five minutes of the half, Paddy O’Rourke converted four frees to give Skryne an unlikely half-time lead. Half-time score: Skryne 0-07, St. Patricks 0-06.

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The Landy brothers kicked off the second half with a point each to put the Pats back in front. A free from Niall Mooney extended this lead as things began to look bleak for Skryne. However, this was to be the last score of the game for St. Pats who failed to score in the last 20 minutes of the match. Paddy O’Rourke picked off another free to leave the minimum between the teams. Similar to the first half, it was a late rally from the boys in blue that saw them prevail as Skryne pressed forward putting pressure on the Pats defence who conceded a number of frees which were punished by Paddy O’Rourke who converted three pointed frees in a row to move Skryne into Pole Position. A well deserved point from Ciaran Lenehan who had a good outing for Skryne, was the icing on the cake as Skryne ran out winners on a scoreline of Skryne 0-12, St. Patricks 0-09.

Skryne saw a number of players return from injury with Niall Lenehan and Eoghan Greene starting for the first time this year. Skryne were well served by the superb Stephen O’Brien, while Ciaran Lenehan, Niall Lenehan, Michael Doherty and Ian Davis were others who impressed in a solid if unspectacular performance from the Skrynemen. However, the aim was to win and win they did, so hats off the the boys in blue.

Skryne: Ian Gillett; Niall Lenehan, Michael Doherty, David Carroll; Ronan McCabe, Stephen O’Brien, Eoghan Greene; Ciarán Lenehan(0-1), Darragh Campion(0-1); Jason Reddy, Ian Davis(0-1), Colm Doherty; Niall Morley, Patrick O’Rourke(0-9, 8fs), Mark Battersby

Subs: Patrick Fox, Robbie Clarke

St. Patricks: Rob Cluskey; Dylan Foster, David McQuillan, David Stafford; Shane Byrne, Martin McKenna, Johnny Woods; Darren Hagan, John Curtis; Niall Mooney(0-3, 3fs), Padraig Nulty, Brendan Monahan; Shane Landy(0-2), Neil OFlaherty, Donal Landy(0-4)

Subs: Martin McKenna, Dylan Foster