Meath SFC: Skryne facing unglorified battle to retain their senior status

Just when it appeared enough GAA Sycamore Gap trees had been felled in recent weeks, another could be hacked down in Meath on Sunday when Skryne fight for their senior status

STALWART: Former Meath captain Kevin Reilly is managing Ratoath in Sunday’s SFC final. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Just when it appeared enough GAA Sycamore Gap trees had been felled in recent weeks, another could be hacked down in Meath on Sunday morning when Skryne fight for their senior status.

The end of Clarecastle’s 91-year existence in the Clare senior hurling championship and Glen Rovers’ 97-year stay among the elite of Cork hurling rightfully made headlines and now the once totemic Tara club of Giles, Hayes, McDermott, and O’Rourke’s 85-year identity as a senior football entity is under threat.

Second only to Navan O’Mahonys in their all-time SFC honours list in Meath, Skryne are in danger of joining O’Mahonys in intermediate level next season.

Demoted last year having won the last of their 20 senior titles in 2015, the town club failed to come up this season. 

One of the mainstays in the O’Mahonys team which dominated Meath football in the early half of the 2010s, former county captain Kevin Reilly has other things on his mind in the form of managing Ratoath in Sunday’s SFC final against Summerhill. 

But he knows only too well the gradual decline of a giant.

“O’Mahonys won four championships between 2008 and 2015 a lot of those lads would have been come off two under-age teams one after the other so basically all the same age. Maybe, just maybe, the eye was taken off the conveyor belt of talent coming through. When those lads started to retire one after the other, they may not have been replaced and slowly you would have seen O’Mahonys going from title contenders to the drop unfortunately.

“With Skryne, the same thing probably happened. They would have a small population and a lot of the under-age teams would be amalgamating. They kept producing players for years and years and football is in their DNA but you’re still relying on stalwarts like Ciarán Lenehan and Harry Rooney. They probably feel a duty to tog out and perform because there are gaps to fill.” 

Much like the housing difficulties in and around the northside of Cork city which have affected Glen Rovers’ catchment area, the likes of Skryne have been dwarfed by the demographic shifts towards the border with Dublin. It doesn’t surprise anyone that seven of the last eight finals have involved either Dunboyne or Ratoath.

“It’s very evident that populations in these communities have exploded in the last number of years and the likes of Ratoath, Ashbourne, and Dunboyne have become a lot more competitive compared to the traditional powerhouses in Meath football,” acknowledges Reilly.

“It definitely has a part to play in it but it’s not just the amount of people living in one area that seeps into that. You need the coaching structures and other elements within the club that all play into that. It’s not the one factor but definitely a factor.” 

Earlier this week, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín spoke of the need for former stars to give more back to their north Cork city clubs in distress. After injury ended his career early, Reilly became O’Mahonys manager in 2017 aged just 31 before later switching to Trim.

Former Meath manager Mick O’Dowd has recently returned to manage Skryne on what is effectively a rescue mission. Nevertheless, a lot of the club’s stock has been exported with current Meath manager O’Rourke long since adopted as a Simonstown Gaels man and ex-Carlow boss Hayes living in Dublin for several years now.

For Reilly, coaching his own was as much about harnessing his own disappointment at having to bring an end to his football career as aiding his club. “I had to finish a little bit prematurely so there was a bit of unfinished business there and management and coaching is second best. Nothing replaces playing but it’s a close second.

“I got straight into it with Navan O’Mahonys and Trim then for two years and won a Meath and Leinster intermediate and got to an All-Ireland final as well. You want to see your club doing as well as possible and there is a proud history and tradition in Navan O’Mahonys. Even people outside the club would like to see them back senior because it’s great for the county.” 

Throwing in at the unglorified time of 11.15am on Sunday, Skryne must get the better of Moynalvey who beat them in their group game by six points at the end of August (two weeks earlier, Reilly’s Ratoath had thrashed them by 23 points). 

What’s more, the game takes place in their rivals Walterstown’s pitch and many of the locals won’t shed a tear should they lay witness to Skryne’s proud record falling.

The scene is as ignominious as they come, a far cry from 13 years ago when they won their last of their 13th senior titles, but to survive this is what they must suffer.