Premier Football Championship Division 2
Seneschalstown 4-09 Simonstown Gaels 2-13
With 63 minutes played of Sunday morning’s Premier FC Division 2 game between Seneschalstown and Simonstown Gaels, the Navan side looked like their two late points to move ahead again would be enough to claim the spoils and leave Seneschalstown without a point heading into Round 3 of the competition. However, there was to be one final twist in the tale.
Playing around looking to get the ball to a shooter, centre back Niall McCabe eventually lined up a shot which dropped short into the Simonstown square. After the ball bobbled around for a few moments, it eventually ended at the feet of Owen Mullen who pulled on the ball first time and it evaded the keeper and ended up in the net, sparking scenes of celebration in the Seneschalstown dugout and ultimately taking a two point win.
Indeed Seneschalstown ended the game as they started, with a goal. Almost straight from the throw-in Eamon Finnegan won a ball close to goal and instead of shooting took the unselfish option of fisting across the square to fellow corner forward Sam Kirwan to palm to the net.
Simonstown settled quickly despite the early goal, and reeled off four points in five minutes to take the lead. Seneschalstown levelled matters in the 7th minute when wing back Neill Darby strode forward from wing back to kick a fine point. However, the strong Simonstown start continued when they moved four clear as a result of a goal. Jamie Kirwan closed the deficit with a free but there was still four in it when Seneschalstown clawed themselves back into contention five minutes before the break, Eamon Finnegan doing extremely well to flick a Bryan Clarke 45’ to the net. Two Simonstown points were cancelled out by Jamie Kirwan (free) and an excellent long range effort from Darren O’Brien as the half drew to a close with Simonstown leading by the narrowest of margins at the break.
The sides shared four more points in the opening 12 minutes of the second half, Kirwan and Clarke registering for Seneschalstown in this period. However, Simonstown were about to enjoy a fruitful few minutes as they tagged on 1-01 for themselves to move five points ahead with 48 minutes played. Seneschalstown’s reply was telling.
In almost the next attack, Bryan Clarke claimed a wayward shot from Mark Fox in the square. In a quick transition, Clarke laid the ball off to Sam Kirwan who took a moment to compose himself and slot the ball into the corner of the net. Less than 30 seconds later, Clarke added a point and there was only one between the sides again.
With five minutes left Darren O’Brien registered his second of the hour and when Jamie Kirwan clipped over another free, Seneschalstown lead for the first time since early on. It looked like Simonstown were going to clinch victory when notching two points in a row either side of the 60 minute mark, before substitute Owen Mullen was to have the dramatic final say well into stoppage time.
One other notable feature of the day for Seneschalstown was the return to competitive action for Woodley Nicholson off the bench, who had been side-lined for over 14 months with a bad knee injury and has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get back to full fitness.
Seneschalstown: Luke Healy, Oran Lawlor, Mark Fox, Cormac Carolan, Neill Darby (0-01), Niall McCabe, Liam Maguire, Podge Finegan, Darren O’Brien (0-02), Tom McDonnell, Jamie Kirwan (0-04, 4fs), Will Finnegan, Eamon Finnegan (1-00), Bryan Clarke (0-02), Sam Kirwan (2-00).
Subs: Owen Mullen (1-00), Woodley Nicholson, Cormac Mullen, Ross Mullen, Joe Norris
