U12 Summer League Final
Skryne U12 faced their neighbours Walterstown in the U12 Summer league final on Wednesday last in Pairc Tailteann. In a very keenly contested final it was the Walterstown boys who took home the silverwear after a very entertaining game. Prior to the throw in, both sides were relieved that the heavy rain which fell through the afternoon in Navan had eased.
Having had to wait almost four weeks since their semi final win both Skryne sides started very brightly and went into an early lead. In the game at the hospital end of Pairc Tailteann, Oisin Keogh and Billy Reilly gave Skryne a firm foothold in midfield. Alex Curran was solid in goals and in front of him both Paddy Wright and Luke O’Brien made it very difficult for the Walterstown attackers. Up front Sean McCarthy, Kian Reddy and Ciara Smith were very lively and showed really well for the ball. As the half progressed Skryne had a number of opportunities to extend their lead but unfortunately they failed to take a number of score able chances. Walterstown came out strongly for the 2nd half and kicked a number of scores to go into the lead. Good work and tackling by Ben Cherry, Daniel O’Keane and Cain Flanagan saw Skryne play their way back into the game. Jack Swan, Josh Grendon and Jamie Mullen all contributed and tried really hard to keep the Walterstown lads at bay. Despite some late scores by the Skryne lads, Walterstown were ahead at the final whistle in this game
In the game at the town end of Pairc Tailteann the Skryne lads got off to a flyer, Andrew Nolan, John Finnerty were excellent in attack and took a number of scores. The received a great supply of ball from the midfield pairing of Alex O’Reilly and John O’Regan. Behind them Cillian Moss, Riain McConnell and the excellent Scott Armstrong defended really well. Shane O’Connor made some fine saves in goal and his long clearances helped out the defenders. The wet and slippy underfoot conditions did not hinder either side and as the half progressed some excellent scores were taken. At half time the combined score saw Skryne ahead by 3 scores. As in the other game Walterstown played strongly in the 2nd half and they slowly began to close the gap. Killian Cahill, Aaron Clarke and Oisin McConnell kept working really hard and tight defending by Conor Ward, James Mangan and Nathan Chawke helped to keep tabs on the Walterstown forwards. In a very tight finish both teams gave their all and at the final whistle the scores in this match were level. When the scores from both games were tallied the Walterstown lads were ahead on a combined score of 37-32.
Over all it was a very brave effort by the Skryne lads. They played some excellent football in both matches, the greater accuracy of the Walterstown lads meant that they fully deserved their victory on the day.
