No Stopping Johnny
Skryne 1 – 14
Navan O’Mahonys 1 – 11
Nobody in Fr McManus Park, Skryne would have given much for Skryne’s chances after 10 minutes of this A League football match on Sunday Morning as the Navan side went 1- 4 to nil up and seemed to be scoring at will. The goal coming after only 3 minutes when Skryne failed to control a long ball into the square which was subsequently flicked to the back of the net. However, not for the first time, this Skryne team dug deep and produced the next five scores to leave the score at 1 – 4 to 0 – 5 after 21 minutes of play. Ian Davis pointed four of these with Mark Battersby putting over a marvelous point on seventeen minutes. The Navan Men did post two more before the break to leave the half time score at 1 -7 to 0 – 5.
Navan did get the opening score of the second half almost from the throw-in to leave six points between the teams but only scored three more while Skryne went on to post 1 – 9 in the second half. First on 33 minutes Ronan McCabe struck down a ball to Mark Battersby who shot to the back of the Navan net. Paddy O’ Rourke brought the scores back to only two between the teams with four minutes gone in the second period. Navan increased their lead to three again but Ian Davis put over the next two to leave only one of a difference before Battersby was again on target with an equalizer, as the game entered the last quarter. A long Ball into the corner was well won by Ronan McCabe who beat his man and fisted over to put Skryne in front for the first time in the game. The Navan Men came back with a point on 47 minutes to tie up the scores once again at 1 -10 apiece. Then the score of the match was registered for Skryne on 55 minutes when Paddy O’ Rourke took a free from the ground about sixty meters from the Navan Goal and put it straight over the black spot . Ian Davis made it a two point game before Navan again pulled one back. With time running out Trevor Giles scored a point and Ian Davis wrapped up the scoring making the final score Skryne 1 – 14, Navan O’Mahonys 1 – 11.
Skyrne – F. O’Rourke; T. McKeown; J. Looby, J. Quinn, A. Carty, D. McGoldrick, J. Hegarty; P. O’Rourke (2); D. Ryan, D Lynch, T. Giles,(1) I. Davis (8); M. Battersby (1 – 2), B Smyth, R. McCabe (1). Subs – for C Lenehan for J Hegarty (25 min), C Byrne for D Lynch (50 min).
