Skryne 1-13 Seneschalstown 2-03

Skryne made the short trip to a well-turned-out Walterstown pitch to face neighbours Seneschalstown in Round 2 of the championship.

Seneschalstown had an excellent opening round victory over St. Colmcilles, so Skryne were expecting a stern test. The game was not a classic by any means, but a dominant second half was enough to see them run out comfortable victors in the end.

The opening quarter was a scrappy affair, littered with mistakes and wides from both sides. Indeed it took 7 minutes for the first score to arrive, a pointed free from Mark Battersby, which was quickly followed by a pointed free at the other end from Cathal Finnegan. Seneschalstown showed some early endeavour in the opening quarter, but their finishing let them down as they squandered a number of chances. Skryne began to grow into the game and two quickfire points from Shane Smyth and Darragh Campion after great work by Eoghan Greene and David Carroll, who was superb in the Skryne defence throughout, saw them take a two-point lead. Cathal Finnegan added a second free for Seneschalstown in the 20th minute. Skryne extended their lead when Stephen O’Brien won possession in midfield on 29th minute. He sent the ball to Paddy Fox who linked up with Darragh Campion. Campo laid the ball off to Shane Smyth who hit a left-footed shot over the bar for his second point of the afternoon. A minute later Conor O’Brien did well to win possession for Skryne in the left-hand corner. He slipped the ball to Darragh Campion who sent it over to put three between the teams as the half-time whistle drew closer. However, there was to be a sting in the tail as Seneschalstown made a foray forward and got the ball to Cathal Finnegan on the right-hand side. Finnegan moved across towards the centre along the 21-metre line and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net to level the game on the stroke of half-time. Skryne 0-5, Seneschalstown 1-2.

Skryne were much improved in the second half and dominated in most areas, particularly in defence with Carroll, Greene and Ciarán Lenehan keeping a tight leash on the Seneschalstown full-forward line, while half-backs Tommy Carpenter, John O’Regan and the excellent John Finnerty marshalled the dangerous Cathal Finnegan and Co, while also getting forward to help in attack. Harry Rooney and Stephen O’Brien bossed the midfield with Rooney winning almost every kick-out that came his way. The first score came from a slick move, which began with Rooney winning the ball in midfield. He laid off to Shane Smyth who sent a lovely ball into Darragh Campion on the edge of the square. Campion fed Niall Finnerty on the right-hand side. Finnerty hit a fine left-foot shot over the bar. Shane Smyth and Niall Finnerty combined again in the second minute with the latter hitting his second point in as many minutes. Two pointed frees from Mark Battersby and Niall Finnerty followed by a screamer of a point from Darragh Campion from 35 metres out on the right-hand side as Skryne moved into a five-point lead. At the midway point of the half, Tommy Carpenter did well to win possession for Skryne in the right-hand corner of the Skryne attack, before being fouled. Niall Finnerty made no mistake with the free as the gap widened to six. In the 19th minute Mark Battersby looked to have been fouled, but Seneschalstown were awarded the free. While Skryne were still protesting the decision, Seneschalstown moved the ball forward quickly with Cathal Hickey finding Dylan Keating in space on the right-hand side. Keating hit a bullet of a shot to the back of the Skryne net for Seneschalstown’s first score of the half. A pointed free from Cathal Finnegan in the 28th minute edged them to within two points of Skryne. However, Skryne kept calm and in the final minute of normal time, Niall Finnerty won possession on the end line to the left of the Seneschalstown goal. He hit a shot from the narrowest of angles which found the back of the Seneschalstown net. Injury time points from Conor O’Brien and Harry Rooney were the icing on the cake as Skryne claimed a deserved victory to put them back in the running in Group A. Full-time: Skryne 1-13, Seneschalstown 2-03

Skryne – Ian Gillett. David Carroll, Ciarán Lenehan, Eoghan Greene. Tommy Carpenter, John O’Regan, John Finnerty. Harry Rooney (0-1), Stephen O’Brien. Conor O’Brien (0-1), Darragh Campion (0-3), Patrick Fox. Niall Finnerty (1-4, 2fs), Shane Smyth (0-2), Mark Battersby (0-2, 2fs).

Subs used – Eoin Smyth, Oisín Keogh

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