U-16 Spring League Division 3 Round 4
Seneschalstown 8-12 Simonstown 6-13
Having commenced their league campaign with two defeats and one victory Seneschalstown played what was only their first home game of the season on Tuesday evening when they played host to Simonstown. In a game which threw in thirty minutes late there was much entertainment with nearly two scores recorded every three minutes as the sides shared thirty nine scores between them.
U-16 Spring League Division 3 Round 4
Seneschalstown 8-12 Simonstown 6-13
Having commenced their league campaign with two defeats and one victory Seneschalstown played what was only their first home game of the season on Tuesday evening when they played host to Simonstown. In a game which threw in thirty minutes late there was much entertainment with nearly two scores recorded every three minutes as the sides shared thirty nine scores between them.
With a team including four players who lined out the previous day with the minor side Seneschalstown burst from the traps and had a goal and three points registered after five minutes as they played into the railway end of the ground. After only forty eight seconds full forward Robert Wogan opened his sides account when he converted a free from the left of the posts after he had been fouled himself. The trickery of their forward line continued to draw frees and Eoin Finnegan picked off two following fouls on Dylan Doyle and his younger brother Cathal. Cathal Finnegan then stretched the home outfit’s advantage when he struck a left footed goal after receiving an excellent pass from Dylan Doyle.
Simonstown settled themselves soon after and began to trouble the umpire when pointing twice, once from play after a well worked move and then from a pointed free.
The two Finnegan’s continued to pick off their scores when Eoin pointed another free after Cathal had drawn a foul before Cathal nabbed his second goal of the game. This one came about following good work out the field from Robert Littler who laid the ball off to Eoin to carry at pace before offloading with a hand pass to his corner forward to bury the ball in the back of the net.
On fifteen minutes Simonstown tagged on a pointed free before Brian Maguire opened his account when after receiving a cross-field ball from Robert Wogan he split the posts. This was quickly followed up by a pointed effort from the younger Finnegan when he intercepted a clearance.
Following two pointed efforts from play from Simonstown Seneschalstown scored a further goal and a point, the point coming from Eoin Finnegan after he blocked down a clearance and the goal courtesy of Brian Maguire after he collected a pass from Robert Wogan and carried the ball along the end line before slipping the ball inside the far post.
The last five minutes of the half belonged to Simonstown however as they scored two goals and two points from play, the first goal a superb effort from their centre forward, with the sole reply from Seneschalstown being a great individual goal from Eoin Finnegan as he soloed the ball in from the right hand sideline after a great overhead catch from Wogan. This left the half time score at the end of an absorbing 30 minutes of football reading Seneschalstown 4-06 Simonstown 1-08.
Having burst from the traps at the outset of the first half Seneschalstown repeated the trick at the outset of the second and had a two goals and a point registered after four minutes to stretch their advantage to fourteen points. Dylan Doyle took the point while the two goals were the result of great interchange play from their forwards. Eoin Finnegan got his second of the game following a move started by a brilliantly executed tackle by influential centre back David Fox. Fox played the ball to Brian Maguire after winning the ball who then exchanged a one two with Alan Mulvany before laying the ball off to Finnegan to beat the goalkeeper. Alan Mulvany then scored his first score of the game when Doyle and Eoin Finnegan combined to set him up.
The visitors then picked off a goal and a point, the point coming after goalkeeper Ruairí McDonagh expertly tipped over a rasping effort for goal, to keep themselves in the game.
Eoin Finnegan extended his tally for the evening when he tapped over after his own effort for a point had rebounded off the post. This following a great run through the heart of the Simonstown defence by Jordan Oganami. The two Finnegan’s then scored a fisted goal apiece after centres by Oganami and Wogan, Cathal defying his diminutive stature to rise highest to flick on a very high ball into the square.
The young men from Simonstown are nothing if not resilient and the forty fifth minute to the fifty eight they chalked up seven of the next nine scores, racking up four goals and three points over this period while Seneschalstown managed two pointed efforts from Robert Wogan to keep their heads afloat as sums were quickly being done on the sideline to keep check of the scores.
Eoin Finnegan soothed the nerves of the Seneschalstown faithful on fifty nine minutes when he picked off another effort from play but all credit for this score must go to Jordan Oganami who lifted the siege at midfield when climbing highest to pull the ball out of the rapidly darkening sky to set up his forward colleague.
Simonstown weren’t done yet though and did manage one more point to reduce the margin to four before the referee brought the curtain down on the most entertaining of games when blowing the whistle for full time on sixty two minutes.
Great credit is due to both sides for serving up a compelling game of football with not a cynical note registered. One begins to wonder what SKY would make of it all.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Eoin Finnegan 3-06 (0-03 f), Cathal Finnegan 3-01, Brian Maguire 1-01, Alan Mulvany 1-00, Robert
Wogan 0-03 (0-02 f), Dylan Doyle 0-01
Seneschalstown: Ruairí McDonagh, Eoin Reilly, Richard McKeown, Louis Healy, Jason Kearney, David Fox, Eoin Traynor, Jordan Oganami, Dylan Doyle, Brian Maguire, Eoin Finnegan, Robert Littler, Cathal Finnegan, Robert Wogan, Alan Mulvany.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Dylan Keating for R. Littler, Keith Waters for A. Mulvany.
