Match Report

Premier 1 Championship       Skryne 1-8     Dunshaughlin 0-16

A very exciting start to this encounter, in the very first minute there was goalmouth action at both ends but only Skryne managed to hit the back of the net in what was to be their only score for the first 20 minutes.  On a few occasions in the first half Dunshaughlin were wasteful, guilty of going for goals rather than the easy point. After the shock of conceding the early goal and absorbing Skryne pressure which included Skryne missing a few easy chances themselves, Dunshaughlin opened their scoring with a Sean O’ Neill point in the 11^th minute. That point was the first of six in a row during a very dominant eight- minute spell for Dunshaughlin and was probably the winning of the game as Skryne lost the lead and never went ahead again for the rest of the game. All of the five other points were also from play and from four different scorers, Colm Keane, Cathal McCormack (2), Conor Mooney & Daragh Byrne. Skryne got their first point in the 21^st minute and followed up with two more points from frees to level the game. Dunshaughlin went ahead again with a Keane point and Skryne equalised with another free, but that was the closest they were to get. Dunshaughlin got two more points before half-time from McCormack and half back David Fildes to leave the score 0-9 to 1-4 in favour of Dunshaughlin. Unfortunately for Dunshaughlin, full back Eoin O’ Connor who is having a great season had to retire at half time with a hand injury and was replaced by Adam Hanley. Indeed, only for great defensive work by Eoin and his colleagues in the backs during the first half Skryne would have been leading. For supporters who like to see football played with a bit of risk involved, one of the highlights of the first half was when the Dunshaughlin goalie Mark Galvin carried the ball at pace from his goals all the way up towards the Skryne 21-meter line and then had to scramble back after Skryne turned the ball over.

Dunshaughlin started the 2^nd half with Conor Jennings getting a point. In the 34^th minute after a Skryne wide, from the resultant kickout Mark Devaney won a mark and sent the ball to Keane who scored a lovely point to put Dunshaughlin four points ahead. Skryne pulled one back but points from Devaney and Hanley had Dunshaughlin leading 0-13 to 1-5 after 41 minutes. It was another 12 minutes before either side scored, Skryne first and then McCormack for Dunshaughlin less than a minute later. With ten minutes to go Skryne reduced the deficit back to four points but a Dunshaughlin substitute Tommy Kinsella had an immediate impact scoring a point within a minute of his introduction to calm the Dunshaughlin supporters nerves. Dunshaughlin’s last score was one of the best of the game, a long range free off the ground from Jennings. Skryne got the last score of the game from a free to leave the final score Skryne  1-8  Dunshaughlin 0-16

Cathal McCormack was once again Dunshaughlin’s top scorer but in this game, there was a greater spread of scorers, ten in total including three of the subs that came on. This Dunshaughlin win in Skryne means that another win (or a draw) in their last group game in two weeks-time away to Gael Colmcille will guarantee a place in the semi- final of the Premier 1 Championship.

Dunshaughlin – Mark Galvin, Jared Rushe, Eoin O’ Connor, Aidan Fraher, Odhran O’ Riordan, James Traynor, David Fildes, Marc Leddy, Conor Jennings, Jack Hetherington, Colm Keane, Daragh Byrne, Cathal McCormack, Sean O’ Neill,  Mark Devaney,  Subs: Conor Mooney for Traynor (15^th), Adam Hanley for O’ Connor (halftime), Wes Goodwin for O’ Neill (53^rd), Paul Briody for Aidan Fraher (57^th ), Tommy Kinsella for  Jack Hetherington (58^th)

Scorers: Dunshaughlin – Cathal McCormack 0-4 (1f), Colm Keane 0-3, Conor Jennings 0-2, Sean O’ Neill 0-1, Conor Mooney 0-1, Daragh Byrne 0-1, David Fildes 0-1, Mark Devaney 0-1, Adam Hanley 0-1, Tommy Kinsella 0-1.