Skryne U16 girls travelled to nearby Walterstown on Wednesday evening 23rd June to take on Royal Gaels of Dunshgaughlin in their Divisional League final. This was a beautiful evening for a game of football with the Walterstown pitch in tip top condition. The two sides had met earlier in this League campaign with Royal Gaels coming out on top on that occasion, however, this was a brand new day from a Skryne perspective. There was a slight breeze in evidence but not enough to advantage or disadvantage either side. Skryne played with the wind at their backs in the opening half when the game got underway shortly after 8pm.
Royal Gaels had the first scoring opportunity when they were awarded a free kick at close range in the 1st minute but surprisingly missed the target. The Skryne side next saw their attempt from play go wide of the uprights on the 3rd minute, followed by a missed opportunity from a placed ball two minutes later. The 6th minute saw another missed opportunity by The Gaels before Skryne keeper Georgia Hanley pulled of a goal line save also in the 6th minute. The 8th minute saw another missed opportunity for a point for the Dunshaughlin side, before they registered the first score of the evening in the form of a point from play a minute later.
The sides were slow to settle with both sets of forwards rushing their opportunities in front of the posts and this was borne out when the Tara side again missed the target on the 9th / 10th / 11th minutes to leave them trailing by the minimum at this early stage. The 12th minute saw Skryne find their shooting boots when half back Niamh O’Brien split the posts from play followed by a pointed placed ball from Eimear O’Brien to put the Tara side ahead on the 13th minute. The game was now starting to open up with both sides finding their pattern at the midway stage of the half. The Skryne side again hit the target when half forward Eimear O’ Brien again converted a free kick to tag on another point on the 15th minute.
As mentioned earlier these sides had met at an earlier stage in this campaign so Skryne were under no illusions as to the task they were facing. The 16th minute saw Royal Gaels blast one across the opponents goal to see it narrowly miss the target followed by a missed point opportunity in the same minute. The game was now finely balanced with exchanges evenly contested throughout the field with the outcome impossible to predict at this juncture. The 17th minute saw a fine passage of play from the Tara side starting with Aoife Swan in the back line on to centrefield player Lizzie Morlande who was playing a stormer. Lizzie sent the ball in to the half forward line but the ball was sent right of the uprights to deny this great move any reward. The 20th minute saw the Tara side back on the scoreboard again when full forward Megan O’Brien put the ball between the uprights to stretch her sides lead coming from another excellent passage of play. Royal Gaels were still battling hard to stay in this game when they pointed from play to narrow the gap a minute later.
We were now coming into the closing stages of the opening half with the Taraside now starting to gain the edge. The 22nd minute saw Skryne find the back of the opponents net when corner forward Sara Halpin found the target. This was followed minutes later with another Megan O’Brien point for the Tara side to put a fair bit of daylight between the sides at this stage. The Tara side were playing a fast and open style of football at this stage finding each other with pin point accuracy displaying a quality of play you would not expect at this age level. The gulf in class was now becoming apparent when Megan O’Brien found Eimear O’Brien with an excellently weighted pass and she made no mistake when she rattled the back of the Gaels net. The Gaels had an attempt on the 26th minute foiled by full back Deidre Kennedy when her dogged defending forced her opponent into shooting wide. The Dunshaughlin side again missed the target a minute later when primarily down to the close attention of Aoife Swan in the Skryne rearguard.
Skryne full forward Megan O’Brien who was having a fine game was again on target on the 27th minute when she split the uprights after taking a delivery from namesake Eimear O’Brien. The signs were now ominous for the Dunshaughlin side as they were now living on scraps and the 29th minute saw them receive another body blow when theTara side again found the back of the opponents net from a high ball directed into the goal mouth by Sophie Rooney. Dunshaughlin made what by now was a rare incursion in around the Skryne 14 yard line when they struck a point from play to pull theTara side back ever so slightly. This response was to prove short lived when theTara side sent another high ball into the opponent’s goal which the opposition failed to clear. This resulted in another goal for theTara side this time coming from the boot of the impressive half forward Eimear O’Brien one minute into added time. This left the score at half time: Skryne 4 – 6. Royal Gaels 0 – 3.
The last time the two sides met Skryne had a significant lead going into the second half which Royal Gaels clawed back to go and win. The Tara side were obviously entertaining no such come back when Castriona Keoghan the MeathCountyplayer registered a point from play with just thirty seconds gone. Royal Gaels were obviously entertaining thoughts of a comeback when they were through on the Skryne goal but saw their effort go wide of the posts on the 34th minute. They had another attempt on the 36th minute frustrated by dogged defending from half back Karen Russell to keep the opposition at bay. The next few minutes saw the Tara side guilty of some poor shooting when they hit four wides in as many minutes. The Dunshaughlin side were battling gamely throughout the pitch in an attempt to get back into the game. The 42nd minute saw one of their attempts bear fruit when they split the uprights followed a minute later by another point this time coming from a placed ball.
Royal Gaels now sensed a comeback was on the cards even thought they had a steep mountain to climb, however, their next three attempts sailed wide of the posts in the 44th and 45th minutes. It has to be said the dogged defending by the Skryne rear guard was in no small way responsible for these misses with Sian Lennon and Aisling Kellegher in particular prominent. The dynamic Skryne centrefield player Lizzie Morlande who was having an outstanding game chalked up a point from play on the 46th minute to keep the Gaels at bay. The Tara side were not shooting with the same accuracy they finished the opening half with as they struck a further wide on the 48th which was followed with a Royal Gaels point from a free kick to slightly claw back the opposition. Skryne again hit two wides on the 23rd and 24th minutes before Dunshaughlin struck a goal also on the 44th minute. This goal was awarded even thought it appeared the score taker had taken about ten steps on her way through on goal.
The game was now coming into the closing stages with expectations high amongst the sizeable Skryne support but they were not about to count their chickens before they were hatched. The Taraside were obviously determined to deliver on this expectation when Cody Swan who had up to now a first class display put the ball over the bar to send out a message of defiance to the opponents. Next up was Skryne centrefield player the one and only Lizzie Morlande who danced her way through the Gaels rearguard to tag on another point which at this stage put the result beyond doubt. We were now at the death and were expecting a few minutes of added time when the Taraside full forward Megan O’Brien added a further point to her side’s tally on the 30th minute. The added time was a fairly tame affair with Royal Gaels missing the target on the 32nd minute and striking the final score of the contest in the form of a point on the 33rd minute. The referee blew up the game shortly afterwards leaving Skryne winners on a scoreline, Skryne 4 – 11. Royal Gaels 1 – 7.
The Cup was presented to the Captain of the Skryne side Niamh O’Brien who lifted the cup to the rousing cheers of her team mates and supporters. She thanked her team mates, the management team Jackie Wade and Liam Kellegher and the Royal Gaels team for such a tough and sporting contest. She went on to thank Waterston who hosted the game and the County Board officials in attendance.
Team – Georgia Hanley; Sian Lennon, Deidre Kennedy, Aoife Swan; Aisling Kellegher, Niamh O’Brien{0 – 1}, Karen Russell; Catriona Keoghan{0 – 1}, Lizzie Morlande{0 – 2}, Cody Swan{0 – 1}; Eimear O’Brien{2 – 2}, Emily Swan; Sara Halpin{1 – 0}, Megan O’Brien{0 – 4}, Roisin Brannagh, Subs – Rachael Irwin, Katie Whyte, Sophie Rooney{1 – 0}, Emma Rathbourne.
