Wolfe Tones' demise greatly exaggerated

Amid the gloom and the rain at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening Wolfe Tones produced a little gem of a performance that rubbished any suggestion that they are a spent force when it comes to the race for the Keegan Cup. Slick, quick-witted, skilful and sharp, they overcame a lacklusture Skryne side that never managed to get out of first gear. Barring some sort of dramatic revival all the indications at half-time were that the Tones would win this tie with plenty to spare. They led by 1-10 to 0-3 and were playing all the football. A combination of Skryne managing to up their display, with Tones taking their foot off the pedal made the second-half marginally more competitive - but only marginally. Wolfe Tones ended up comfortably winning this game and yet they could still afford to have Ciaran McLoughlin sent off. McLoughlin tussled with Paddy O'Rourke five minutes into the second-half. Referee Joey Curley gave a free to Skryne and also dished out a yellow card to a clearly frustrated McLoughlin who felt he had been wronged. A minute later the Wolfe Tones full-back, who was having a fine game, saw red after an exchange of words with the match official. Without Trevor Giles, sidelined with an injured finger, Skryne lacked any leadership or direction and manager Liam Harnan cut a bemused figure on the sideline. Time and again he watched helplessly as his defence was torn to shreds, particulary down the middle, by a quick-passing Wolfe Tones outfit who have now followed up their first round defeat to Dunboyne with two victories. This was also the first time in a while that Wolfe Tones were able to field a full strength team and it showed. Stephen Corrigan returned to give an exhibition of high fielding and along with Martin McNally and later Alan Callaghan, he lorded midfield. Eoghan Harrington mopped up a huge amount of ball at centre-half-back while Richie Brady and Barry McGinn were highly impressive both in their defensive and attacking duties. Inevitably Cian Ward topped the scoring for Wolfe Tones with 1-6. He continued with the near flawless place-kicking form he displayed in Portlaoise the previous week slotting his six points from a series of distances and angles. His goal arrived three minutes before the break after a move spearheaded by Brady led to Stephen Sheppard been dragged down in the square. Ward despatched his penalty shot close to Skryne's Felim O'Rourke. The 'keeper managed to get a hand on it but the ball just about made it across the line. Niall McLoughlin displayed his predatory instincts with three fine points from play for Wolfe Tones while Gordon Beggy and Darren McGrath were others to split the posts with fine efforts. An unusual statistic from this game was that both goals came from spot-kicks. Skryne's goal arrived on the hour mark when they stitched together a rare good move that involved Allan Carty, Mark David and Ian Davis and ended when a Tones player was penalised for a footblock. Davis sweept home the penalty with conviction but it was a mere consolation. Paddy O'Rourke got few opportunities yet still managed to eke out three long-range points from play that helped to keep give his colleagues some hope. There were precious few other highlights for Skryne to reflect on an evening Wolfe Tones announced that they are very much back in business. Wolfe Tones - S Power; R Brady, C McLoughlin, A McKeown; B McGinn, E Harrington, G Beggy (0-1); S Corrigan, M McNally; D McGrath (0-1), N McLoughlin (0-3), M Coleman; A Fox, S Sheppard (0-1), C Ward (1-6, penalty, five frees, one '45'). Subs - A Callaghan (0-1) for McNally 25mins, P Caffrey for McGrath half-time, D McGrath for Coleman. Skryne - F O'Rourke; A Curry, C Lenehan, M Jordan; D Morley, D McGoldrick, J Looby; D Ryan, A Tuite; J Hegarty, I Davis (1-2), B Davis; M Battersby (0-1), P O'Rourke (0-3), A Carty. Referee - Joey Curley (Moynalty).