Joy for Bective – Skryne shocked in Junior final
Bective 0-11
Skryne 0-9
The beauty of football is its unpredictability. Nobody outside Bective would have tipped them to win the 1997 JFC title, but courage, passion and a hefty sprinkling of skill ensured it happened in last Sunday’s decider at Pairc Tailteann when they deservedly overcame hot favourites Skryne.
After their impressive victory over Meath Hill in the semi-final, Skryne fancied their chances. Never in their wildest dreams could they have expected to come up against such determined and committed opposition.
Sean Moran and Davy Cahill had by far the better of the early midfield exchanges and when Cahill was stretchered off with injured ribs after 20 minutes, Paddy McConnell proved a capable replacement.
But it was in attack where Bective surprised most people. Centre-forward John Sheehan was in excellent form during the opening half hour and registered seven of his side’s nine first half points, five of them from frees.
Damien Cahill also caused problems from his corner forward berth, as did David Sheehan. But the star of the show was the 20-year-old captain Ruairi Russell.
The full-forward led by example and had the crowd gasping in admiration with a series of jinking runs which usually resulted in a score or a free. He squandered two gilt-edged point-scoring opportunities in the first half, but they didn’t take away from a glittering display.
But, despite their overall dominance, Bective could easily have lost this game.
Skryne trailed 0-4 to 0-9 at the break and they were still five points down at the end of a wasteful third quarter. But they found their form towards the end and the outcome could have been different had referee Joe Harlin formed a different opinion on James Battersby’s disallowed goal in the 45th minute.
Battersby blasted to the net after collecting a Declan Smyth free, but Harlin called square ball and Bective cleared to safety. The Skryne players were incensed by the decision.
But anything other than a Bective victory would have been an injustice after a splendid performance, particularly in the first half.
The script went according to plan in the early stages as Skryne, who had switched their wing forwards into the corner forward positions, opened the scoring with a Brendan McDonnell points in the first minute. And they could have been three ahead if Ciaran Murphy and Niall Smyth had made the most of good goalscoring opportunities a minute later.
But as the game went on, Moran and Cahill began to take charge at midfield and Russell and John Sheehan were finding more and more space in the Skryne defence.
The latter levelled the contest in the fifth minute with a 35-metre free after Alan Swan had brought him to the ground and although Bective fell behind again to a Declan Smyth free, Sheehan was on target from a similar distance after Russell was fouled.
The green and white brigade were now in total control. Three more frees from Sheehan made it 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter and his first point from play put four between them in the 23rd minute. Skryne ended a 20-minute barren spell when Murphy converted a 35-metre free and they narrowed the gap to two when Smith and Murphy combined to set up McDonnell for his second point in the 27th minute.
It looked like Bective’s resistance was beginning to wilt, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Moran and his new partner McConnell enjoyed a fruitful spell towards the end of the first half and although they led 0-6 to 0-4, David Sheehan became only their second scorer when his left-footed free found the target in the 30th minute.
His brother John scored his second point from play and his seventh of the contest a minute later and they stretched the lead to five when Damien Cahill pointed from a McConnell pass in the third minute of injury time.
Skryne were expected to come out with all guns blazing in the second half and they didn’t disappoint. Declan Browne and Colin Lynch were finally gaining reward at midfield and they set up camp in Bective’s half immediately after the restart.
But the combination of Bective’s terrier-like defending and Skryne’s inaccuracy in front of goal ensured the deficit wasn’t lowered and it was Bective who scored the opening point of the second half when David Sheehan converted another free after Russell was fouled.
Smith (2), Murphy and Battersby reduced the gap to three (0-8 to 0-11) in Skryne’s best spell of the game at the start of the final quarter, but Bective blocked all routes to goal in the dying seconds and they held on for their most memorable victory.
Bective: PJ McCabe; C. Dowdall, W. Tormey, N. Moran; R. Cahill, G. Gallagher, B. Lynch; S. Moran (0-1), Davy Cahill; P. Bartley, J. Sheehan (0-7), D. O’Brien; D. Sheehan (0-2), R. Russell, Damien Cahill (0-1). Subs: P. McConnell for Davy Cahill; B. Cerngliaro for McConnell; A. Clynch for Damien Cahill.