Meath U-17 Division 2 League Round 4
Navan O’Mahonys 4-09 Seneschalstown 4-10
In years to come the date August 19th 2016 will be the answer to the inevitable quiz question as to when the first Friday night game on in the Premier League was shown on Sky Sports. However, it is highly unlikely that anybody who watched the millionaires strut their stuff in Old Trafford was entertained nearly as much as the hardy few who attended this cracker of an U-17 match in Paddy O’Brien Park.
Meath U-17 Division 2 League Round 4
Navan O’Mahonys 4-09 Seneschalstown 4-10
In years to come the date August 19th 2016 will be the answer to the inevitable quiz question as to when the first Friday night game on in the Premier League was shown on Sky Sports. However, it is highly unlikely that anybody who watched the millionaires strut their stuff in Old Trafford was entertained nearly as much as the hardy few who attended this cracker of an U-17 match in Paddy O’Brien Park.
Throughout the hour the match was played at a very fast pace and in truth a draw would probably have been a fair result and there would have been no complaints from either side had referee Joey Curley blown up with a minute of injury time played at the death for a draw but he played on and in the third minute of stoppage time Seneschalstown managed to conjure up one last scoring opportunity and cometh the hour cometh the man as Cathal Finnegan managed to fist over the winning score from the narrowest of angles.
A freshening breeze blowing in from the railway end of the ground made for tricky conditions for the team playing into it and indeed Seneschalstown only mustered one point when playing against it in the first half but crucially they were able to strike for two goal through a Finnegan brace and one from Eoin Traynor.
The visitors to the Brews Hill venue were first to score when despite being off balance Cathal Finnegan managed to point. O’Mahonys struck back a few minutes later but Seneschalstown then pilfered their opening goal when following a driving run from the dynamic Alan Mulvany, Eoin Traynor saw his shot creep into the top corner. O’Mahonys then got into their groove and reeled off a succession of scores between the tenth and twenty first minutes to push into a five point advantage.
Seneschalstown were guilty of a number of misses as they found the breeze tricky to judge but they received a double boost on the run in towards half time when the redoubtable Finnegan struck for two goals to send them in at the break of play with a lead of a solitary point.
Upon the resumption Robert Wogan pointed a free but Navan O’Mahonys then received a timely fillip when they struck for two goals and a point and in truth should have had a third goal were it not for a superb Keith Waters save down low to his left which drew admiring comments from all onlookers.
Two Cathal Finnegan points, the second of which came at the end of a sweeping move involving Alan Mulvany, Sean Commons, Sean Carey and Dylan Keating steadied Seneschalstown and were followed by a well taken Carey point before wing back Ross Mullen stole forward to bury a goal past the O’Mahonys ‘keeper. The hoe side though were unbowed and immediately struck back with a goal and a point of their own to move them three clear with thirteen minutes remaining.
Sean Commons who had been introduced as a second half substitute began to grow more into the match and he had a direct hand in two of the next three scores as first he placed Dylan Keating to point before splitting the uprights himself. Cathal Finnegan then managed to draw the teams level once more when he reacted quickest to a Robert Wogan free which came back off the left post to point. The tit for tat nature of proceedings continued when O’Mahonys pointed via the upright before Commons blazed over when he possibly could have burst the net. This set up the grandstand finish when with ice in his veins Cathal Finnegan pulled a rabbit from the hat as he conjured up one last score to settle the affair in Seneschalstown’s favour.
Best for the winners were Finnegan, Keith Waters and the hard working Sean Carey.
Seneschalstown: Keith Waters, Brian Boyd, Daire Finnegan, Richie McKeown, Jamie Kirwan, Joseph Moore, Ross Mullen (1-00), Robert Wogan (0-01, 0-01 Free), Brian Maguire, Cillian Gormley, Dylan Keating (0-01), Eoin Traynor (1-00), Alan Mulvany, Cathal Finnegan (2-05), Sean Carey (0-01).
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Sean Commons (0-02) for E. Traynor, Cathal Hickey for B. Boyd, Ciaran Mongey for J. Kirwan.
