Skryne advance in Leinster at the expense of Wicklow champions

They may have been short of the clinical, predatory finishing they produced in the Meath SFC final, but what Skryne lacked in forward power they made up for defensively as they edged past Rathnew in the Leinster Club SFC at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. The Wicklow champions came to Navan with a decent provincial record augmented by an impressive county final victory over Baltinglass, but they struggled to breakdown a resolute Skryne defensive unit. There were times when Rathnew looked capable of carving open Skryne, but outstanding defending by Mark Jordan and Andrew Curry slammed the door shut and with Kevin Mulvaney and especially Mark Battersby offering plenty of options up front the Meath side were superior. However, sometimes the best team isn’t always successful and Skryne did need a couple of moments of defensive brilliance by Dwayne Beaton and Curry in injury-time to deny Rathnew a goal or two before Ian Davis made sure of the win with the insurance score from a free. The unerring accuracy that was evident against Seneschalstown in the Keegan Cup final was absent on Sunday. Instead it was replaced with some poor wides in the opening period and five efforts that dropped into goalkeeper Peter Dignam’s hands. The Meath champions looked very impressive going forward and were creative throughout as their hard work and superior fitness ensured they were capable of creating chances. However, the shooting boots were askew and while Mulvaney and Battersby were troublesome they didn’t get the reward on the scoreboard they deserved. Both of Skryne’s corner-forwards had the beating of their direct opponents throughout while most of Brian Byrne’s hard work was invested further out the field. Davis and Paddy O’Rourke weren’t as influential as they were in the SFC final, but they still contributed 1-7 between them, 1-5 from placed balls. Aidan Tuite and David McGoldrick were pinned to their collars at midfield where James Stafford enjoyed a productive afternoon. It was when Stafford came more into the game in the third-quarter that Rathnew found new resolve. The giant midfielder employed the tactic of winning primary possession and instantly delivering long ball into Tommy Gill and Irish International Rules star Leighton Glynn. In a five-minute spell in the third-quarter Stafford was key to Rathnew turning a 1-4 to 1-7 deficit into a one-point lead as his booming long deliveries caused Skryne temporary problems. Eventually Skryne regained their composure and once again showed their steely determination to ride out a storm and sail to victory. That composure was epitomised by the coolness under pressure of Trevor Giles and Ciaran Lenehan. Both men produced moments of excellence that helped take the sting out of potent Rathnew attacks and also launched decent Skryne forays. After seven frantic minutes of end-to-end action Skryne eventually opened the scoring with Giles launching an attack that saw Davis trade passes with Battersby before slotting over from a difficult angle. Mulvaney blasted a great goal chance over the bar after Damien Power had dropped Tuite’s long ball, but Rathnew were still dangerous as Glynn showed before striking a tame effort straight at Felim O’Rourke. Some of the shooting for goal was woeful. Battersby squandered a great goal opportunity by arrowing at Dignam and throughout the contest several other half-chances were wasted. Glynn followed up on his impressive performance for Ireland just 20 hours earlier by opening Rathnew’s account after 17 minutes, but five minutes later Skryne were boosted when referee Gary McCormack awarded a penalty. Davis’s long free was robbed from Stafford’s grasp by Paddy O’Rourke and the Meath goalkeeper was fouled by Paul Merrigan. Davis drove his penalty down the middle and while Dignam did get a foot to the ball it wasn’t enough as Skryne moved 1-2 to 0-1 ahead. Davis stretched that lead with a free before Stephen Kavanagh replied for Rathnew. The last word of the exciting opening half went to Battersby as he took advantage of an Alan Clarke mistake to give Skryne a 1-4 to 0-2 interval lead. Any aspirations Skryne held of a comfortable second-half were wiped out within 20 seconds of the restart. Stafford won the throw-in and raced towards goal where his tame effort was parried by Felim O’Rourke into the path of Mark Doyle who blasted to the net. Battersby followed up two minutes later by fisting at Dignam, but from the resultant '45’ Paddy O’Rourke converted to give Skryne a 1-5 to 1-2 lead. The end-to-end scramble continued with Glynn and Doyle trading scores with Tuite and Paddy O’Rourke before Rathnew enjoyed their purple patch. Points from Gill (two), Glynn and Doyle moved them into a 1-8 to 1-7 lead with 14 minutes remaining, but Skryne refused to panic. They tightened up at the back, Rathnew failed to score again. Skryne upped the tempo to secure their passage to a quarter-final clash against Wexford side Castletown with points from Davis (three frees) and Battersby. SCORERS Skryne - I Davis 1-5, 1-0 penalty, four frees; P O’Rourke 0-2, one '45’; M Battersby 0-2; K Mulvaney 0-1; A Tuite 0-1. Rathnew - M Doyle 1-2, L Glynn 0-3; T Gill 0-2, one free; S Kavanagh 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 - B Davis for Byrne 40 mins, V O’Reilly for Hegarty 56m, P Fox for Mulvaney 60m. Rathnew - P Dignam; A Clarke, D Power, P Merrigan; S Byrne, S Canavan, E Glynn; J Stafford, S Kavanagh; J Merrigan, N Mernagh, B Mernagh; T Gill, M Doyle, L Glynn. Subs - D Franey for Byrne half-time, E Doyle for J Merrigan 34 mins, P Ronan for B Mernagh 42m. REFEREE - Gary McCormack (Dublin).