Skryne make it to their 3rd Minor Final of the year!!

Skryne 0-15 St. Colmcilles 1-09

Minor Football Championship, Division 1 – Semi-final

2 of the superpowers of Meath Minor Football collided today in the semi-final of the Division 1 Minor Football Championship. The stakes couldn’t be higher with the loser destined to bow out of this year’s championship, while the winner will go on to meet Summerhill (who disposed of Dunboyne in the other semi-final today) in a week’s time in Pairc Tailteann.

The arena for this battle was Stamullen where the pitch was in immaculate condition, with the surface like a carpet. The weather too was kind with a bright blue sky and not a cloud in sight. There was a chill in the air but Nicky Hamill displayed the toughness that is in every Skryneman’s genes as he patrolled the sideline decked out in his shorts!! No Jose Mourinho scarf and gloves for Nicky!!

The battle commenced 2 minutes behind schedule and like 2 heavyweight boxers they traded punches early on with Skryne striking the first blow when Daragh Campion converted a free in the second minute of the game. Colmcilles replied with a free of their own 2 minutes later. Skryne pressed forward again and won a free. The free was fielded by the Colmcilles keeper who cleared well and launched a quick attack downfield where their No. 8 found some space and tapped over a point. Skryne levelled the game a minute later with a Jayo Fox free. Colmcilles won the kickout and launched a high ball towards the Skryne goal. The ball was contested well but broke to the Colmcilles full forward James Conlon in front of goal. He blasted low to the net giving Dean no chance. Skryne responded well to the concession of the goal. Eoghan Smith who was impressive throughout, found Jayo Fox with a bit of room on the right hand side. Jayo turned his man and struck a peach of a point with the outside of his boot. He added another to his tally a minute later to reduce the deficit to one. The two sides swapped scores, both pointed frees(Skryne’s from the boot of Daragh Campion) around the 20th minute, before Skryne levelled matters on the 26th minute with another Jayo Fox free. Colmcilles snatched back the lead almost immediately with a good point from play. Skryne had a goal chance a minute later which was superbly saved by the keeper who had made himself big. The ball rebounded off the post and was collected by the Colmcilles defender whose attempted clearance was blocked by Jayo Fox and the ball ran out wide much to the relief of the Cilles rearguard. The sides went in at half-time with only a point between them on a scoreline of Skryne 0-06 St. Colmcilles 1-04.

Skryne were first out for the second half eager to get proceedings underway. However it was James Conlon who got the scoring underway in the second half with a point for the Cilles almost immediately after the restart. Skryne won the kickout and Oisín Gryson made a burst forward into the heart of the Cilles defence. He was dragged back just as he laid the ball off and the ref was perhaps a bit to quick to blow for the foul as Skryne may well have had an opportunity for a goal. To be fair the ref had a good game in what was a sporting encounter. Daragh Campion sent the free over and narrowed the gap to one. Aidan Gill got his name on the scoresheet after a fine move involving Campion and Michael Doherty who was enjoying a fine game in his attacking half back role. Gill got on the end of the move and sent the ball soaring over the bar. All square again!! Frank Carty came off the bench and joined the forward line. 8 minutes into the half he won a free-kick which was cooly converted by Daragh Campion and Skryne took the lead. Colmcilles replied with a good point from their corner forward who despite pressure from the stingy Skryne defence managed to squeeze the ball over the bar. Skryne pressed forward again and won another free on the right hand side which was pointed by Campion who had his radar well calibrated for this game. A minute later Colmcilles launched a high ball into the Skryne penalty area. The ball ricocheted around before it was collected by a Colmcilles man in the penalty area. Under pressure he snatched at his shot and sent it over the bar when a goal chance was beckoning. The sides were level again. Goalkeeper Dean Reddy was injured during the commotion in the penalty area and had to receive treatment for several minutes. Thankfully Dean recovered and continued his guardianship of the Skryne goal.

Play resumed on the 50th minute. The break seemed to benefit the Skryne lads as from the restart, they clocked up 3 points in quick succession, the first from Daragh Campion who managed to get in behind the Colmcilles defence. He came in from the right hand side and had a chance at a goal. He struck the ball with his weaker left foot and it fizzed over the bar much to the relief of the Cilles Keeper. A minute later Aidan Gill grabbed his second point of the game with a fine finish as Skryne began to turn the screw. Oisín Gryson won the resultant kickout and worked the ball forward to Colm Mc Loughlin. Colm was faced with a wall of Cilles defenders forcing him to turn away from goals. Undeterred he quickly spun and sent a fine point over the black spot. Cilles had a chance to pull one back when they won a free in a scoreable position a minute later, but they struck it wide leaving a goal between the sides. The Cilles pushed forward trying to eat into the Skryne lead but the Skryne defence stood firm. The full-back line of Barry Clarke, Eoghan Greene and Cian Twomey repelled attack after attack as Cilles sent in high balls to Conlon and Co. in the full forward line. Robbie Clarke seemed like an extra full-back in the latter stages of the game as his man pushed forward with Robbie sticking to him like a leech. The half-backs of Doherty and O’ Donnell defended tenaciously and attacked at every opportunity while midfielders Darren Fox and Oisín Gryson won the lionshare of the aerial duels in midfield. 2 minutes from time, the Cilles finally started to reap some rewards for their attacking efforts when they won 2 frees in a row, which they pointed to reduce the deficit to the minimum. The Skryne supporters were getting nervous but the team remained calm and finished the Cilles off with 2 points in injury time when Jayo Fox pointed after Cian Twomey made a fine block in defence and quickly moved the ball to Daragh Campion who surged forward and sent the ball to Jayo in the corner. Jayo turned inside and arrowed the ball over. The scoring was finished off by Michael Doherty who combined well with brother Colm before slotting over a fine effort.

The Skryne crowd rejoiced as the final whistle blew and Skryne made it a hat-trick of finals in 2015. What a team!!!

The Cilles as usual proved a tough nut to crack and must hate the sight of Skryne. Hard luck to the Piltown lads!!

Skryne Team: Dean Reddy, Cian Twomey, Eoghan Greene, Barry Clarke, Jack O’ Donnell, Robbie Clarke, Michael Doherty, Oisín Gryson, Darren Fox, Darragh Campion, Eoghan Smith, Paddy Carpenter, Aidan Gill, Andrew Moore, Jason Fox. Subs Used: Colm Mc Loughlin, Frank Carty, Colm Doherty