Paddy's day at the Pairc as late point delivers Keegan Cup

When Skryne were holding out for a hero it was Paddy O'Rourke who stepped up to the plate and pointed a '45' with the last kick of the game to secure a 13th SFC title for the Tara men following their magnificent victory over Seneschalstown at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. It was a remarkable performance from Liam Harnan's side. They were the better side, but every time they looked like getting a stranglehold on the contest Seneschalstown hit them with a sucker punch and all their good work was undone. It would have been easy for the Skryne heads to drop on several occasions. When Brian Sheridan netted after nine minutes memories of last year's quarter-final defeat must have flooded back, but they refused to panic. However, everytime they wiped out a Seneschalstown goal with a flurry of points they were hit on the counter by Seneschalstown's superb direct and precise football. There were times when the defending champions looked unstoppable and capable of scoring with every attack. Seneschalstown must have thought at half-time that Sunday was going to be their day. Almost everything they touched turned to goals. Skryne had no answer to the twin threat of Joe and Brian Sheridan in an opening 30 minutes that Harnan must have felt was like 30 days. All Harnan wanted was the half-time whistle. He needed to re-organise his side, boost spirits and instil self-belief. After the break that is exactly what he got as Skryne produced an exceptional display of composed football to cut out the Seneschalstown danger and kick 12 second-half points. Paddy O'Rourke will earn the headlines for his late dramatic '45' that won the game, but there were plenty of other heroes for Skryne. Ian Davis deservedly claimed the man-of-the-match accolade following his eight-point haul, which included four from play. Paddy O'Rourke was magnificent and with Kevin Mulvaney and Mark Battersby terrorising the Seneschalstown corner-backs, Skryne proved they had the firepower to win. Aidan Tuite had a storming game at midfield, while Mark Jordan, James Hegarty and David McGoldrick also defended stoutly in the face of incessant long balls from Seneschalstown. Much of the success on which Skryne's win was founded came from the superb efforts of two players at the opposite end of their senior careers. Trevor Giles was mercurial once again, controlling matters from centre-forward, tracking back and defending and providing a superb link between midfield and attack. Ciaran Lenehan, only 19, was a revelation at centre-back and provided a useful platform to launch attack after attack and break up any rare occurrences of short passing by Seneschalstown. Harnan turned to Lenehan in the second-half to keep tabs on Joe Sheridan and he did that superbly. After a two-goal blast in the opening period Joe Sheridan was shoved to the periphery of the contest by Lenehan as Skryne cut off the supply. When Seneschalstown were on top they were awesome. Their direct style appeared impossible to stop. Gary Conlon, Robert Ruddy and Damien Sheridan ensured an endless supply of long ball into Brian and Joe Sheridan and they enjoyed the rewards. Once Skryne came to grips with the route one football they caused problems themselves with their more intricate, neat passing style. Skryne managed a dozen scores from play, Seneschalstown registered just seven - an indication of the balance of play. Seneschaltown's swift counter-attacking movement brought goal chances and caused pandemonium in the Skryne square. But Seneschalstown only kicked four scores from play, three goals were palmed to the net from close range. Five points came from placed balls with no player managing to score more than one point from play. In contrast, Skryne had seven scorers to Seneschalstown's five with Davis and Paddy O'Rourke contributing 15 points between them and only nine points from placed balls which included the Meath goalkeeper's dramatic late winner. Seneschalstown had their chances and although they managed to rattle Felim O'Rourke's net four times it was the nightmare miss by Cormac Quinn five minutes into the second-half that they were left to rue. A superb move which involved Joe and Brian Sheridan saw Quinn gather possession close to goals and from the edge of the small square he somehow managed to clip the outside of the woodwork when it appeared easier to score. A goal at that stage would have made it 4-5 to 0-12 and probably would have been the death knell for Skryne. Instead, Seneschalstown had to wait until the 12th minute of the second-half to add to their first-half tally and by that stage the deficit was down to a point. Seneschalstown also had other goal chances. Robert Ruddy aimed a tame shot at Felim O'Rourke in first-half injury-time and on a couple of occasion Joe Sheridan saw flicked efforts drift inches wide. Titles are won and lost on such inches. There were times in the opening period when Seneschalstown looked as if they would pull away with ease. When Brian Sheridan netted after nine minutes to boost the defending champions to a 1-2 to 0-2 advantage, many feared Skryne would capitulate. The Tara men responded with points from Davis (two, one free) and Brian Byrne which drew the sides level, but again the Sheridans caused mayhem as Joe got on the end of Brian's break to fist to the net to make it 2-2 to 0-5. A poor clearance by Felim O'Rourke saw Joe Sheridan lob an effort onto the crossbar and 10 minutes before the break Brian Sheridan (two frees) stretched Seneschalstown's lead to 2-4 to 0-5. Skryne looked in trouble, but again they bounced back brilliantly with points from Davis, Paddy O'Rourke (free) and Lenehan. Quinn and Mulvaney traded scores before Senecshalstown netted again when Joe Sheridan gathered Bryan Clarke's centre and fired to the net at Felim O'Rourke's near post for a 3-5 to 0-9 interval lead. Within three minutes of the restart Seneschalstown's five-point lead was down to two as Paddy O'Rourke (two, one free) and Davis sent over. Skryne cut off the supply from midfield to the Sheridan brothers and Quinn's miss followed. Paddy O'Rourke and Stephen Finnegan traded points before Skryne upped the tempo. A questionable free allowed Davis add to his tally before Mulvaney was denied a goal by a decent save from Davy Lyons. Davis was denied a goal by a Stephen Sheridan block, but from the resultant '45' Paddy O'Rourke restored parity for only the third time. With 13 minutes remaining Mulvaney gave Skryne the lead for only the second time, but points from Joe Sheridan and Brian Sheridan (free) gave Seneschalstown the initiative again. James Hegarty drew the sides level with seven minutes remaining and Skryne looked on a roll, but Battersby was denied a goal by a brilliant block from Paul Carey. Two frees from Davis and a fine Battersby point gave Skryne a 0-20 to 3-8 cushion, but again Seneschalstown showed their character when Finnegan flicked a loose ball to the net to restore parity again. A draw seemed certain until Paddy O'Rourke had a 65-metre free deflected out for a '45' and after some confusion because of Seneschalstown's reluctance to retreat 13 metres the Skryne hero held his nerve to nail the kick and secure the title. SCORERS Skryne - I Davis 0-8, four frees; P O'Rourke 0-7, three frees, two '45s'; K Mulvaney 0-2; B Byrne 0-1; C Lenehan 0-1; J Hegarty 0-1; M Battersby 0-1. Seneschalstown - B Sheridan 1-5, five frees; J Sheridan 2-1; S Finnegan 1-1; C Quinn 0-1. THE TEAMS Skryne - F O'Rourke; A Curry, D Beaton, M Jordan; J Looby, C Lenehan, J Hegarty; A Tuite, D McGoldrick; P O'Rourke, T Giles, I Davis; K Mulvaney, B Byrne, M Battersby. Subs - P Fox for Byrne 46 mins, V O'Reilly for Curry 50m, B Davis for McGoldrick 53m. Seneschalstown - D Lyons; J Byrne, P Carey, G Sheridan; G Conlon, J Cowley, S Sheridan; R Ruddy, C Quinn; D Sheridan, C Macken, S Finnegan; B Clarke, B Sheridan, J Sheridan. Subs - A Finnegan for S Sheridan 37 mins, A Gleeson for Macken 27m, A Collins for J Byrne 50m, D Byrne for Cowley 59m, S Clarke for Quinn 60m. REFEREE - Brendan Darby (Ballinabrackey).