Royal Gaels 6 – 10
Skryne 5 – 10.
Skryne lined out against Royal Gaels of Dunshaughlin under floodlights in FatherMcManusPark on Thursday evening 8th of November in their U19 league campaign. This was expected to be a thrilling encounter and that is exactly what we got, with great credit going to each side for the top class display of football we witnessed.
This was a mild and damp evening when match referee Mick Ryan threw the ball up getting the game underway at 8pm.
The Gaels were quick to settle to their task when they drew first blood on the 1st minute with a well taken point from play, throwing down the gauntlet to the Tara side.
The Skryne response sailed wide of the uprights a minute later followed by another wide on the 4th minute forgoing the opportunity to level matters.
Royal Gaels stretched their lead on the 5th minute with another point from play and again the Skryne response was another missed opportunity when the ball went right of the uprights.
The sides exchanged wides on the 9th minute before the home side had their first score on the 13th minute with an Eimer O’Brien goal to put her side ahead for the first time in the game.
The Tara side stretched their lead on the 19th minute when a well worked move involving Catriona Keoghan, Ruth Moore and Eimear O’Brien providing the finish with an excellently taken point to put pressure back on the Gaels.
The sides again exchanged wides minutes later before the Gaels got themselves back in front on the 23rd minute when they rattled the Skryne net laying the ground for an epic encounter.
This was now real end to end stuff with little between the sides at this stage when Royal Gaels struck a top class point from play on the 24th minute demonstrating what an excellent side they were.
Skryne got the better of the next exchange when the one and only Elizabeth Morland had a brilliant point from play following on from a pass from Ruth Moore on the 25th minute to narrow the gap.
The 27th minute saw the score of the evening again coming from the boot of Elizabeth Morland when she ran all the way through from mid field to bury the ball in the Gaels net to give the Tara side a two point lead.
Skryne and Elizabeth Morlande were now on fire when we saw another attempt from the afore mentioned rebound off the crossbar. However, the ever alert Skryne corner forward Eimear O’Brien was first to respond to the rebound and had the ball in the Gaels net to stretch her side lead in the closing stages of the half.
The Dunshaughlin side were determined to stay in the chase and they achieved this when they added their second goal to keep tags on the Tara girls on the 29th minute. The Gaels were back on the scoreboard a minute later with an excellent point from play to leave the minimum between the sides on the 30th minute.
The scoring for the half was closed out by the home side when Ruth Moore converted a free kick, following on from a foul on Eimear O’Brien , leaving the scores at the break:
Skryne 3 – 3. Royal Gaels 2 – 4.
The second half got underway with the Tara side defending a two point lead and they added to this on the 31st minute when half back Megan O’Brien struck a point from play.
Skryne had finished the first half strongly and were determined to maintain their momentum when we saw another excellent run from Elizabeth Morland from the middle of the field… Elizabeth picked out the rock solid full forward Ruth Moore who sent a pile driver to the Gaels net putting it up to their opponents.
The home side were back on the scoreboard in the 37th minute when a short taken free form Ruth Moore found Melanie Kirwan who duly finished over the bar to push her side further ahead.
If Royal Gaels were shell shocked from the Skryne second half start they were not showing any signs when they struck their first score of the half in the 39th minute with a well taken point from play.
The sides saw their next few opportunities go wide of the posts before the 40th minute saw the Gaels awarded a penalty following on from a foul on their full forward. The visitors made no mistake when the penalty resulted in a goal to put the game back in the melting pot.
The Dunshaughlin side struck another point from play leaving just two points between the sides on the 43rd minute and laying the ground for a thrilling finish to the game.
It was now anybody’s game and the Tara side took another step towards claiming the points when they put together a well worked move resulting in a goal. The move started with half forward Saoirse McGrath making a run from mid field before finding Ruth Moore with an excellently weighted pass. Ruth in turn found the in running Elizabeth Morlande who provided the finishing touches to this move.
The Tara side’s tails were now up and they continued to pile pressure on the Gaels goal area. This pressure resulted in another point from the home side when Saoirse McGrath took a point after a run from mid field. In the 52nd minute.
A well worked move a minute later saw another point for the Skryne side when Elizabeth Morland linked up with Ruth Moore to set up Saoirse McGrath for another point from play to push their side further ahead.
The Tara side were now dominant and the 53rd minute saw another Saoirse McGrath and Ruth Moore link up with Ruth taking the point on this occasion…
The home side were back on the scoreboard within a minute when Saoirse McGrath linked up with Elizabeth Morland to claim a further point to push Skryne eight points ahead at this juncture.
The Skryne back line was breaking down any attack by the Gaels with Deidre Kennedy, Niamh Monahan and Megan O’Brien in particular prominent.
There was now fifty four minutes on the clock, however, we were expecting a significant period of injury time to be added give the number of casualties in this half.
It is often said “do not count your chickens before they are hatched” and if that ever proved to be true it certainly was so on this occasion. The next few minutes saw a total turn around in this game with the Gaels launching an onslaught on the Skryne back line.
This onslaught bore fruit on the 55th minute when a high ball into the Skryne goal mouth deceived the Skryne back line and found its way into the rear of their net to put Royal Gaels back in the chase.
The home side now appeared to totally lose their composure with the visitors coming at them in waves. The 56th minute saw the home supporters look on in disbelief when they saw the Gaels again find the back of theTara side net to leave just three points between the sides.
Royal Gaels now had the momentum and were back on the scoreboard on the 57th minute with two points from play to leave the minimum between the sides.
This was a game Skryne appeared to have under control but the Dunshaughlin side obviously had other ideas and were not putting them into effect.
The 58th minute saw the Gaels go back in front when they again found the Tara sides net which meant they had chalked up 3 – 2 in a three minute period.
The Tara side now attempted to lift the siege with Saoirse McGrath running at the Gaels rear guard and she found Elizabeth Morland with a well timed pass. Unfortunately for the home side Elizabeth’s attempt was dramatically save on the line to deny her sides attempt at a comeback.
Skryne had better luck two minutes later when centre fielder Catriona Keoghan split the Gaels uprights to claw back the lead slightly.
The Tara keeper Roisin Gryson was called into the action when she pulled off a diving save to keep her teams hopes alive in the dying minutes.
We were now well into injury time when the Dunshaughlin side struck two points, to leave theTaraside with a mountain to climb and time almost up.
The last two attempts from the home side went wide of the uprights leaving Royal Gaels running out winners after a battle royal.
Skryne team – Roisin Gryson; Ashling Kellegher, Aoife Swan, Sophie Rooney; Niamh Monahan, Deidre Kennedy,
Megan O’Brien{0 – 1}; Catriona Keoghan{0 – 1}, Niamh O’Brien; Elizabeth Morlande{2 – 2}, Melanie Kirwan{0 – 1},
Saoirse McGrath{0 – 2}; Eimear O’Brien{2 – 1], Ruth More{1 – 2}, Eimear Clarke.
Subs – Cody Swan for Eimear Clarke. Orla Cragie for Aoife Swan. Karen Russell for Elizabeth Morlande {injury}. Eimear Clarke for Saoirse McGrath {Injury}.
