Skryne Ladies travelled to Nobber on Thursday evening 19th February to take on Wolfe Tones in this Junior B League encounter. This game was fixed for Nobber as the Tones do not have floodlight facilities in their home ground and the Tones had home advantage. Skryne were short a number of key players particularly in defence so team manager Mick Whelan had to make a number of positional changes to the side for this clash. This was expected to be a tough encounter and this is exactly what we got with the result hanging in the balance right up to the very end.
Wolfe Tones opened the scoring in the 2nd minute when they had a well taken point from play. This was responded to by Skryne midfielder Aisling Bowens when she struck an excellent point from play to level matters in the 5th minute. The early stages were evenly contested with either side asking or giving no quarter. The Tones were next up with a further point from play before they sent two wide of the uprights as a result of dogged defending by the Tara rearguard. The 10th minute saw the opposition awarded a close range free which they converted to add another point to their tally. Skryne were now dealing with a rampant Tones side before the elusive Skryne half forward Saoirse McGrath found the target in the form of a point. It was now end to end stuff as the Tones responded to the Skryne score with a goal of their own from play in the 13th minute. The next move emanated for the Skryne half back line with Orla Cragie finding Saoirse McGrath with and excellently executed pass. Saoirse went on one of her trademark runs leaving the Tones trailing in her wake. She found Skryne and Meath forward Colleen Jordan with a well timed pass. Colleen burst through the opposition full back line and buried the ball in the back of the opposition net to leave the scores on the 15th minute; Skryne – 1 – 2. Wolfe Tones – 1 – 3 a one point advantage to the Tones.
The Skryne rearguard was now under considerable pressure and the absence of a number of regular defenders was now telling. The opposition found their way through to the Skryne goalmouth and struck for another goal on the 17th minute to stretch their lead. However, the Tara girls were determined to make a game of it when Saoirse McGrath struck a left footed point followed a minute later on the 20th minute by fellow Skryne half forward and captain for the evening Melanie Kirwan to eat into the opposition lead. The next five minutes saw both sides guilty of some errant shooting with Wolfe Toners striking three wides and Skryne with two. The opposition struck again on the 28th minute for another goal to put Skryne in further trouble in the closing stages. Team manager Mick Whelan was now urging his side on for the final few minutes of the half and to this they responded when Coleen Jordan had a point from play. This was followed almost immediately when Kayleigh Farrell struck a point for the blues followed a minute later by a point from play by Melanie Kirwan. The final score of the half came from Colleen Jordan when she had another well struck point from plan on the 31st minute to leave the scores at the break:
Skryne – 1 – 8. Wolfe Tones – 3 – 3
The second started with Colleen Jordan again getting on the scoreboard with a point from play on the 2nd minute to level the game. The conditions underfoot were slippy with heavy showers falling occasionally. There was little or no breeze evident and the game was being played at a lightning pace. The Tones again got their nose in front on the 5th minute with a point from play. The Tara girls were now playing a more controlled style of football and were starting to get a grip on the game. However, the next six minutes saw them guilty of poor shot selection when they struck four wides on the trot. The 11th minute saw Saoirse McGrath strike a point form play followed by two wides from Wolfe Tones. Skryne corner forward Eimear Clarke then found the target when she split the uprights followed almost immediately by another Saoirse McGrath point to leave the scores at the 19th minute of the half: Skryne 1 – 12. Wolfe Tones 4 – 4 a one point advantage to the opposition.
Skryne were now dominating proceedings and sensed victory when the one and only Colleen Jordan burst through from midfield leaving the opposition trailing hopelessly in her wake. She picked her spot as she bore down on goal and rattled the back of the opposition net to put her side ahead for the first time in the game. Colleen was not yet done and she showed why she is on the County Senior panel when she added another well taken goal a minute later to put Skryne in a commanding position in the final minutes of the game. The Taragirls next struck two wides on the 24th and 25th minutes which if converted would surely have sunk the opposition.
The Tones then struck two wides of their own to leave the scores on the 26th minute of the half: Skryne 3 – 12. Wolfe Tones 4 – 4 a five point advantage to the Skryne Ladies. However, as they say in another sporting code it isn’t over till the fat lady sings and this unfortunately turned out to be true on this occasion. The 28th minute saw the Tones launch an offensive on the Skryne goal which the blues appeared to have under control. Coleen Jordan had the Tones corner forward pinned out on the wing but unfortunately due to slippery underfoot conditions she lost her footing. The Tones corner forward advanced on goal only to be pulled down resulting in a penalty which they converted. Skryne were still two points to the good with two minutes of normal time remaining and still looked like a good bet. However, troubles seldom come in ones and the 29th minute saw a ball delivered into the Skryne goalmouth which theTara side failed to clear. The ball somehow rolled over the goaline to snatch the lead away from the Blues at the death. Skryne were now on their last legs and the lack of substitutes was telling on tired limbs and bodies.
Wolfe Tones dominated the final minute or two of the game and struck a further two points to leave them winners on a scoreline;
Wolfe Tones 6 – 6. Skryne 3 – 12.
This is a game Skryne should have won and when we were five points ahead with as many minutes remaining we should have closed the game down. As mentioned earlier the absence of a number of key defenders certainly told on the evening. Added to this the loss of Ruth Moore during the first half, through injury did not help our cause on the evening and further weakened our defence. Ruth took a heavy knock to the head requiring a visit to Hospital but we are happy to report she has fully recovered. Our distribution of the ball between the half back line, centerfield and half forwards was much improved on this occasion particularly in the second half. A score line of 3 – 12 would be good enough to win most games but unfortunately not on this evening. However, it is onwards and upwards from here and if Skryne have their full panel available we should be a match for any side. In the after match talk in the dressing room Mick Whelan named Megan O’Brien an U16 member of the squad as player of the game as she had an outstanding game in the Skryne defence. Another U16 player Aoife Swan made her senior team debut and put in a very strong performance on the evening.
Team – Roisin Gryson; Anita O’Sullivan, Niamh Lynch, Sinead O’Kane; Megan O’Brien. Orla Cragie, Ruth Moore; Aisling Bowens {0 – 1}, Emma Fitzpatrick; Melanie Kirwan {0 – 2}, Colleen Jordan {3 – 3}, Saoirse McGrath {0 – 4}; Catriona Keoghan, Michell Whelan, Eimear Clarke {0 – 1}; Subs – Aoife Swan for Sinead O’Kane, Kayleigh Farrell {0 – 1} for Ruth Moore [injury]
