It was another tough day at the office for Skerries on Saturday, as they went down by 42-15 at the hands of Malone in their AIL Division 2B round 13 clash in Belfast.

Despite sitting just ahead of their hosts in the league standings heading into the game and eager to make up for a 22-24 in the reverse fixture at Holmpatrick back in November, Skerries struggled to find a rhythm, as their torrid run of injuries continued to cause havoc.

Already shorn of captain, Kieran Leonard, fellow hooker Cal Marrey, livewire flanker Alex Cleary, try-scoring wing, Taidgh Keane-Boylan and the talismanic Kevin McGrath, Skerries lost prop Tomas O’Donovan in the warm-up and then front-rower Trevor Scuffil and prolific goal-kicker, Ronan Mulcahy inside the opening ten minutes of the match.

By that stage, Malone were 5-3 to the good, and both sides had a man in the sinbin – Michael Melville finishing off the simplest of opening tries for the hosts in the corner after Jack Litchfield was deemed to have played the ball illegally, Skerries skipper, Paul O’Loghlen responding with a penalty from a high tackle by Davy McMaster on Mulcahy.

Both sides had their share of territory and possession thereafter, but it was 15 minutes before the next score was logged, as the hosts crossed for their second try, this time through hooker Sam Green off a routine lineout maul, and Matty Rea’s conversion made it 12-3.

From the restart, Malone returned to the Skerries ’22 almost immediately, and on 31 minutes, they had a third try as McMaster reacted quickest following a break from Green and Rea was again on target with the difficult conversion.

Keen to respond before the half-time break, Skerries looked to use the lineout maul of their own but Darragh McEneaney was deemed to have been held up over the line when it seemed for all money that he had scored.

Malone eventually cleared their lines and finished on the attack but the score remained at 19-3 at the interval.

A Skerries infringement from the second half kick-off receipt gave Rea the chance to extend the lead with the simplest of penalties in front of the posts and five minutes later, the hosts struck for the killer blow – the impressive Green cleaning up a loose lineout and feeding supporting scrum-half, Dara Gaskin to score.

Rubbing salt into the wounds, Skerries conceded a penalty on the restart and Malone tapped from deep inside their own half, Mark McGlynn evading a couple of would-be tacklers down the left-hand touchline to score in the corner and make it 32-3.

Facing such an uphill battle, Skerries ably stuck to the task but it took until the 58<sup>th</sup> minute for them to register their first try of the game, as debutant Dara Twomey crossed on the left after a period of sustained pressure.

A lovely, delayed pass from O’Loghlen sent Brían Walsh over for Skerries’ second try on 61 minutes and the former’s conversion made it 32-15.

With bonus points now in sight, Skerries looked to carry on the momentum but penalties continued to hinder their progress at crucial times and instead, it was the hosts who finished in the ascendancy with further scores from Green and flanker, Dave Greatorex.

Next up for Skerries is a big game against at home against Sligo next Saturday, with the Yeats County men fighting for their survival in the division.

Skerries versus Malone:

1. Trevor Scuffil
2. ⁠Darragh McEneaney
3. ⁠Evann Shelley
4. Jack McGregor
5. ⁠Cian McGuinness
6. ⁠Sam Deering
7. ⁠Barry Murphy
8. ⁠Paddy Finn
9. Eoghan Carron
10. Paul O’Loghlen (capt)
11. Davey Goodman
12.  Ronan Mulcahy
13. Tim Deering
14. Brían Walsh
15. Jack Litchfield
16. ⁠Johnny Sherwin
17. ⁠Cormac Murphy
18. ⁠Rossa Gilbride
19. ⁠John Healy
20. Dara Twomey