Leinster Club SFC: Skryne progress at Rathnew's expense
October 24, 2010
Skryne keeper Felim O'Rourke is put under pressure by Rathnew's Leighton Glynn during the Leinster senior club championship at Pairc Tailteann
Rathnew (Wicklow) 1-8
Meath champions Skryne banked an AIB Leinster Club SFC quarter-final spot with a narrow win over their Wicklow counterparts, Rathnew at Pairc Tailteann, Navan on Sunday.
Skryne secured a 'home' date with Castletown (Wexford) on November 7 with four unanswered points in the final quarter at a sun-drenched but chilly venue.
Liam Harnan's charges might have won by a wider margin but lively corner-forward Mark Battersby tamely palmed an Ian Davis pass straight at Rathnew 'keeper Peter Dignam in the 58th minute.
Seconds earlier Battersby had doubled Skryne's slender lead while a foul on him led to the final score of the game courtesy of an Ian Davis free.
Skryne were more economical than their opponents registering six wides, four fewer than Rathnew. Harry Murphy's men were five points in arrears at half-time urged on by their vocal supporters roared back in the third quarter.
Midfielder James Stafford led by an example and from the restart surged forward only to see his shot stopped by Skryne 'keeper Felim O'Rourke. Mark Doyle slotted home the rebound and the deficit was halved.
Battersby might have netted for Skryne seconds later, but his punched effort from David McGoldrick's pass was turned out for a '45' by Dignam. However, Paddy O'Rourke landed the subsequent kick.
When the same player flighted over a fine point from play in the 40th minute, it was 1-7 to 1-4 to the Tara-men. Rathnew responded with four scores on the bounce with Tommy Gill registering twice, once from a free.
International Rules player Leighton Glynn was more influential after the changes of ends and finished the hour with three points. He might have had two goals, but two under-cooked efforts were smarly stopped by Felim O'Rourke.
When Mark Doyle pointed in the 46th minute Rathnew led by 1-8 to 1-7 but failed to trouble the scoreboard operator thereafter.
The opening third of the hour yielded just two scores with county final match-winner Paddy O'Rourke opening the scoring in the eighth minute. Kevin Mulvaney doubled Skryne's tally four minutes later.
Glynn - who was well-schackled by Mark Jordan in the early stages - opened Rathnew's account in the 17th minute.
When Paddy O'Rourke fielded a delivery from Meath SFC final 'man-of-the-match' Ian Davis he was fouled by Rathnew captain Steven Byrne. The latter departed with an arm injury just before the break.
Davis dispatched the resultant penalty to the Rathnew net off the legs of 'keeper Peter Dignam and it was 1-2 to 0-1 with 23 minutes gone in a poor opening-half.
Skyrne - with the sun at their backs - outscored Rathnew by 0-2 to 0-1 over the remainder of the half with the Battersby concluding the scoring in the first 30 minutes to leave it 1-4 to 0-2 at the interval.
Skryne - F. O'Rourke; A. Curry, D. Beaton, M. Jordan; J. Looby, C. Lenehan, J. Hegarty; A. Tuite (0-1), D. McGoldrick; P. O'Rourke (0-3, 1 f, 1 45), T. Giles, I. Davis (1-4, 1-0 pen, 0-4 fs); K. Mulvaney (0-1), B. Byrne, M. Battersby (0-2). Subs - B. Davis for Byrne (41), V. O'Reilly for Hegarty (56), P. Fox for Mulvaney (60).
Rathnew - P. Dignam; A. Clarke, S. Power, P. Merrigan; S. Byrne, S. Canavan, E. Glynn; J. Stafford, S. Kavanagh (0-1); J. Merrigan, N. Mernagh, B. Mernagh; T. Gill (0-2, 1 f), M. Doyle (1-2), L. Glynn (0-3). Subs - D. Franey for Byrne (ht), E. Doyle for J. Merrigan (35), P. Ronan for B. Mernagh (43).
Referee - G. McCormack (Dublin). Tweet
