Skryne 1 -6
Dunshaughlin 0 – 9
With both teams needing the points this was always going to be a competitive fixture. Dunshaughlin were first of the mark after three minutes followed almost immediately by a point from Ian Davis. Dunshaughlin posted the next two but Mark Battersby on eleven minutes pulled one back for the Skryne men. Wayward shooting from Dunshaughlin, especially from set pieces, kept this match open as a contest but they did manage a further two to open up a three point margin before Ian Davis again scored to leave only two points between the teams at the break.
The second half saw Dunshaughlin open up a four point gap but David Ryan and Davis again pulled it back to a two point game. Further points were traded by both sides with Cairan Lenehan coming forward to get on the scoreboard with 47 minutes gone. The referee issued O’Rourke with a yellow card for a foul on a Dunshaughlin forward. The same player however showed enormous patience throughout the game as he was continually fouled, of the ball, by his opponent which was not dealt with by the officials. A further ten minutes were to elapse with both sides missing scoring chances before the only goal of the game was scored. Paddy O’Rourke kicked a long ball into the corner which wasn’t dealt with effectively by the Dunshauglin defense. The resultant cross saw the unmarked Ian Davis strike the ball to the back of the net to put Skryne ahead for the first time in the game with 58 minutes of normal time gone. However Dunshaughlin dug deep to get an equalizer with time up. There was a further five minutes of injury time played but neither side was able to get a winning score.
This result sees both sides on one point each making both their chances of reaching the knockout staged that bit more difficult.
Skyrne – F. O’Rourke; D. Morley, J. Looby, T. McKeown; A. Carty, C. Lenehan (0-1), J. Hegarty; D. McGoldrick, P. O’Rourke; K. O’Reilly, T. Giles, I. Davis (1-3, 0-1 f); K. Mulvaney, D. Ryan (0-1), M. Battersby (0-1). Subs – R. McCabe for Mulvaney (ht), J. Quinn for Looby (60).
Dunshaughlin – R. Gogan; C. Hoary, K. McTigue, A. Doyle; A. Johnson (0-1), T. Johnson, D. Kealy; J. Crimmins, C. King; C. Devereux (0-3), T. Dowd (0-3, 2fs), T. O Dushlaine; F. Toolan (0-1,f), N. Murphy, C. O’Dwyer (0-1). Subs – F. Delaney for McTigue (33), E. Hagarty for O’Dwyer (44), M. McHale for O Dushlaine (56).
Referee – J. O’Byrne (St Patrick’s).
