Skryne survive red card

The irrepressible dark horses of Skryne galloped into the SFC quarter-finals as group B winners following their narrow victory over previously unbeaten Blackhall Gaels at Dunshaughlin on Saturday evening. Prior to the start of the championship Skryne were considered big outsiders, but on Saturday evening they proved that they will be a tough nut to crack. Allied to their great team work and superb individual talent they also showed great character to survive the closing 12 minutes with only 14 men after Vinny Reilly had been dismissed for an off-the-ball clash with Sean Whelan. Whelan had just planted a superb shot in the back of the net to bring Blackhall Gaels level, 1-5 to 0-8, when Reilly took exception to his celebration. Referee Brendan Darby had no hesitation in issuing the straight red card and Skryne looked in trouble. However, Liam Harnan's men regrouped, restricted Blackhall to just one more point and piled on the pressure. Defences were on top throughout the contest as both sets of forwards had periods where they mis-fired. Blackhall kicked 13 wides while Skryne were only marginally better with 11 efforts off target. For long periods, especially in the first-half, Skryne looked as if they would run away with the contest. David Ryan was superb at midfield while Kevin Mulvaney, James Hegarty and Brian Byrne did well up front. Blackhall enjoyed moments of supremacy through Paddy Brady, Tadhg Brosnan, John Kelly and George Beirne, but it was Skryne's more cohesive attack play and tight defending that stood to them. An Ian Davis free and a fine point from veteran Brian Smyth gave Skryne an early advantage. Paddy Brady responded for Blackhall Gaels, but Skryne were the dominant force and should have been further ahead. Byrne and Hegarty stretched the lead, but Blackhall were allowed stay in the contest by Skryne's wayward shooting and Denis Beirne narrowed the deficit. Skryne missed several great opportunities to prove their dominance on the scoreboard, but they did take a deserved 0-6 to 0-2 interval lead when Ryan and Hegarty (free) added to their tally. After the break scores were scarce. Whelan tapped over a simple free to cut the lead to just three points, but when David McGoldrick pointed with Skryne's first attack seven minutes into the second-half and Davis added a free victory looked assured. However, Blackhall refused to give up. Brady pointed a free after Whelan and Brosnan failed with earlier efforts and when Brosnan kicked a brilliant point Blackhall started to believe. Whelan blazed a great goal chance wide before making amends two minutes later when he took a pass after great work by Mark Mullally, raced 50 metres and despatched an unstoppable shot past Paddy O'Rourke. Reilly's departure appeared to shift momentum Blackhall's way, but instead of panicking, Skryne regrouped and closed out the contest competently with frees from Hegarty and Ian Davis and an excellent point from 17-year-old Brian Davis. Blackhall's last score was a Paddy Brady free as they ran out of steam and ideas. Skryne - P O'Rourke; D Beeton, C Lenehan, M Jordan; M Mulvaney, V Reilly, B Farrell; D Ryan (0-2), D McGoldrick (0-1); J Hegarty (0-3, two frees), T Giles, I Davis (0-3, frees); B Smyth (0-1), K Mulvaney, B Byrne (0-1). Subs - B Davis (0-1) for Smyth 46mins, J Quinn for Farrell 56m. Blackhall Gaels - T Dalton; D O'Neill, G Beirne, D O'Brien; A Nestor, D Dalton, J Kelly; P O'Brien, M Mullally; D Beirne (0-1), S Whelan (1-1, free), C McElligott; P Brady (0-3, two frees), T Brosnan (0-1), A Brady. Subs - S Nally for McElligott 44mins, J Joyce for Kelly 60m. Referee - Brendan Darby (Ballinabrackey).