Date: Saturday 21st August 2010

Venue: Pairc Tailteann

Full Time: Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-08 Skryne 2-11
Half Time: Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-02 Skryne 1-07

Our senior team’s quest for Keegan Cup glory came to a disappointing end in Pairc Tailteann as the lads went down by 2-11 to 1-08 at the hands of Skryne. We got off to the worst possible start by conceding a goal in the first minute and a further two points in the 3rd and 4th minutes. From this point on we were chasing the game.
Seasoned campaigners, Skryne showed their experience when they found the back of the Donaghmore Ashbourne net with the first minute. The Tara men extended their lead to five with to unanswered points on 3 and 4 minutes, the latter coming from a free.
Although Donaghmore Ashbourne found it difficult to get their fast running game into gear they did get back into the game when David Morgan found the net on 11 minutes after a good run from Ciaran Ellis. The Skryne response was instant as they replied with a point from the resulting kick out. Both sides traded points at the end of the first quarter with the Skryne score coming from a free and David Morgan replying with a minute.
The second quarter was a low scoring affair but Skryne managed three unanswered points on 21, 22 and 24 minutes. Two of these scores coming from Paddy O’ Rourke frees. Our final score of the half came from the boot of Ian Dowd just before the interval.
Having not played as well as we could in the opening period the Donaghmore Ashbourne supporters were expecting a better second half from the team and this looked to be the case early after the restart. Ciaran Ellis finished a good run with a point within a minute of the restart. Niall Farrell opened his account with a long range point a minute later. When Andrew Tormey raised the white flag in there was only two points between the sides with three minutes played of the second period.
Skryne did reply with another free on 37 minutes but a second Tormey point on 40 minutes had two between the sides again. The revival looked to have been completed on 40 minutes when David Morgan found himself in a one on one situation at the edge of the small square with the keeper but his low shot was blocked and no score came from the attack. The turning point of the game came on 41 minutes when O’Rourke found the net against the run of play. The score came from a line ball that was taken inside the line of the pitch and although Donaghmore Ashbourne disputed the incident and lost concentration Skryne kept playing and finished the move with a goal.
Ciaran Ellis did reply with a point on 46 minutes but three unanswered points late in the second period was enough to put daylight between the teams. Niall Farrell did get the last point of the game deep in injury time.

Focal Scor
The guidelines for PRO from the Association advise that match reports should outline the facts and not to comment on the Association in a negative way. Ignoring it on this occasion, the inconsistency of the referee in this game cannot go without question. Similar incidents by both sides appeared to punished differently with Donaghmore Ashbourne being treated much harder than Skryne. This frustration led to an incident late in the game and no doubt the local press will have their usual view of the situation. On getting the above of the “aul chest” the truth is that our lads did not (or possibly were not allowed to) play to the full potential and this is the most disappointing aspect of the game. The facts are that if you score more than the opposition you deserve to win and last night Skryne showed a bit more cuteness and experience to do that. This is still a young Donaghmore Ashbourne team with an average age of 24 so all is not lost. As a club we have to learn from games like this.

Donaghmore Ashbourne: P. Durkan; M. Roche, C. Mc Gill, S. Curran; C. Ellis(0-2), C. O’Mealoid, T. Kelly; B. Menton, E. Reilly, E. Riordan, N. Farrell(0-2), K. Lanigan; D. Morgan(1-1), I. Dowd (0-1), A. Tormey (0-2)

Subs: R.O Connor for O’Mealoid (27m), R. Maguire for E.Riordan (45m)