For the second time in three weeks, Skerries left it until the death to secure a valuable win on the road. This time it was Dungannon – Players brought to their knees, as Mikey Sherlock’s decisive try in the corner sealed victory at Stevenson Park.
Much like at Galwegians in round one, it seemed that Skerries had left themselves with too much to do heading into the final minutes but once again, they showed impressive spirit, patience, and no little skill to stay within touching distance and strike when it mattered most.
With two wins apiece heading into Saturday’s round three meeting, this was expected to be a tight affair and it certainly lived up to that, with both sides looking to impose their respective strengths on each other.
It was the hosts who got their plan in motion first as hooker Ryan Abernethy touched down inside the opening 90 seconds after a string of strong carries, and Ben McCaughey converted to make it 7-0.
A Skerries penalty shot at goal went just wide after a quarter of an hour but they made their possession count soon after when Luke Mitchell put Taidgh Keane-Boylan over the line with a deft pass, and Ronan Mulcahy leveled things up with the conversion.
Things were evenly fought for the rest of the half, with a Mulcahy penalty the only change to the scoreline, which read 7-10 at the break.
Again, Dungannon were the quicker out of the blocks in the second half, as prop James Gamble barged over from another close range effort and McCaughey’s conversion made it 14-10.
That score served to spur the home side on and they were very quickly back in enemy territory, where out-half Andrew McGregor – with advantage playing and the defensive line stretched – floated a crosskick for wing Peter Cashel to touch down.
McCaughey’s third successful conversion made it 21-10 and that’s how things remained until the 75th minute, when Davey Goodman somehow evaded three woould-be tacklers on the left wing to skate in close to the posts, with Mulcahy’s conversion making it a one-score game.
Dungannon sent the restart long in an attempt to kill the game but they would not touch the ball again, as a succession of brave carries and then penalties moved Skerries up the other end, and when superb hands from Keane Boylan and Mitchell found Sherlock out wide, there was no better man for the job.
The conversion was missed but the result was secure, and means Skerries finish the first block as one of only two unbeaten teams – behind table-toppers, Wanderers – in the division. Next up is the visit of local rivals, Malahide, to Holmpatrick on October 19th.
- 15. Ronan Mulcahy
- 14. Taidgh Keane-Boylan
- 13. Luke Mitchell
- 12. Mike Sherlock
- 11. Davey Goodman
- 10. Paul O’Loghlen
- 9. John Healy
- 1. Trevor Scuffil
- 2. Kieran Leonard (capt)
- 3. Tomás O’Donovan
- 4. Sam Deering
- 5. Cian McGuinness
- 6. Alex Cleary
- 7. Darragh McEneaney
- 8. Peter O’Neill
Subs:
- 16. Ryan Kiernan
- 17. Ben McKiernan
- 18. Paddy Finn
- 19. Shane Hannon
- 20. Jack Litchfield