Ratoath could have the edge in tight finish

Ratoath and Skryne are not used to meeting in crunch games like this weekend’s SFC semi-final, but they are two sides that know each other very well and next Saturday's clash in Pairc Tailteann will be the third time in three years that the sides have faced each other in the championship, writes Tom Gannon.

Ratoath were very comfortable winners in 2023 but last year Skryne got revenge when they stunned their neighbours in the group opener.

Much of the talk after Ratoath’s extra-time victory over Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the quarter-final surrounded their wide tally, which was massive, 21 in total. However, their impressive defensive performance slipped under the radar.

The stats for total scoring opportunities, on paper, suggest that Ratoath were far more dominant in possession but in truth, it was the turnovers by Ratoath’s defence and their ability to pick up loose ball which proved to be crucial. It was only in the last quarter of normal time that Ratoath were pretty much camped in the opposition territory.

In their opening two games of the SFC, Ratoath’s young full-back line, at times, showed their inexperience. The decision to switch Liam Kelly into full-back for their last group game and quarter-final has stabilised that area in and they are now a very strong unit.

Ratoath’s defence have a tougher task ahead of them against Skryne who are a very positive attacking outfit.

The Tara men like chaos, they like to attack in numbers and constantly have runners coming off the shoulder. They attack from deep and their ability to overload defences is a big reason why they have been the most consistent outfit in the SFC so far.

Even though they only won by a point, Skryne had the highest scoring tally of all eight teams in the quarter finals. Ratoath played 80 minutes of football and still fell a point short of Skryne’s 60-minute total.

Harry Rooney suffered a nasty concussion early on in that contest and whether he is medically cleared in time to play or not will have a huge impact. There are very few midfielders in the county that can go toe-to-toe with Jack Flynn in the air but Rooney is one of them and he will be a huge loss to Skryne if he isn’t fit enough to play.

Despite the fact that Skryne were warm favourites to progress through their quarter-final, Ballinabrackey nearly pulled off a huge upset. The final 20 minutes of that game will worry Mick O’Dowd. Between the 40th minute and the 60th minute, the Brack’s outscored Skryne by 1-11 to 1-3.

In contrast, Ratoath pulled back a five-point deficit to draw level in the final quarter of their clash. The stark difference in how both sides closed out their respective quarter-finals would lead you to believe that in a tight game, Ratoath might just have the edge to get over the line.

Prediction - Ratoath.