Senior Championship
Sat 21st Aug Walterstown 1-9 Seneschalstown 0-6
Having endured a turbulent summer on and off the pitch, Walterstown finished their SFC campaign on a bright note with this victory on Saturday night with Mick OBrien at the helm.
The Skryne pitch was in pristine condition for this derby encounter. Unfortunately the quality of play failed to live up to the standard of the surroundings as a game that promised plenty of fire and bite failed to deliver.
Senior Championship
Sat 21st Aug Walterstown 1-9 Seneschalstown 0-6
Having endured a turbulent summer on and off the pitch, Walterstown finished their SFC campaign on a bright note with this victory on Saturday night with Mick OBrien at the helm.
The Skryne pitch was in pristine condition for this derby encounter. Unfortunately the quality of play failed to live up to the standard of the surroundings as a game that promised plenty of fire and bite failed to deliver.
And despite the result the evening wasnt all black either for Seneschalstown. They may have lost with one of their worst displays of the campaign, but they stilled qualified for the quarter-finals.
However, based on this performance Seneschalstown have a lot of issues to resolve before the next assignment.
They lacked conviction with few of their players performing near their best and were never in front. They trailed by 0-4 to 1-6 at the break and added just two points in a second-half display that lacked any fizz or focus. Both their second-half scores were from Brian Clarke frees.
Only two of Seneschalstowns total came from play, from the impressive Mark Carey and Ciaran Macken while Joe Sheridan added two points, one from a 45, the other from a free. He also spurned a couple of frees from very kickable positions.
Graham Geraghty was on the margins of the play throughout. His one significant contribution was a quick free midway through the first-half which created a goal chance.
With a neat flick Geraghty released Brian Clarke who extracted a brilliant save from Walterstown keeper Alban Crosbie. Macken punched the rebound inches wide from close range.
The poor quality of the free taking diminished the texture of the play with both sides guilty of spurning a number of opportunities from placed balls, mostly from the hand. Taking frees from the ground appears to be a dying art.
They made a perfect start when Charles McCarthy centred after 40 seconds and Davy Reynolds punched to the net from the edge of the square.
Powered by the midfield combination of John Davis and Charles McCarthy the defensively sound Walterstown dominated most of this game, particularly the second-half.
At times they moved with impressive fluency and this was reflected in the fact that seven of their points came from open play. Davis, McCarthy, Ronan Barry, Davy Reynolds, Brian McCormack and Joey Farrelly all showed opportunism and skill to take the chances that came their way. Davis also forced a superb save from Seneschalstown keeper Davy Geraghty.
An example of Walterstown’s ability to move the ball forward with menace came in the 52nd minute when Paddy Reynolds, John Geoghegan, John McCarthy, Peter Reynolds and Barry combined to create an opening for McCormack who slotted over.
The score was one of the highlights of a bright evening for the Blacks who were left wondering what might have been after a turbulent few months.
Trim B. Murphy; P. Hegarty, J. Tighe, Richie Fitzsimons; R. Brennan, D. Fay, M. Power; F. Murphy, Ronan Fitzsimons (0-1); S. Murphy, P. Gilsenan (1-1), C. O’Keefe; E. McGrath (1-1), M. Lowther (1-2), C. McHugh. Sub B. Murray (1-0) for O’Keefe.
Seneschalstown D. Geraghty; C. Gleeson, T. Maguire, J. Byrne; C. Clarke, G. Geragthy, J. Cowley; D. Sheridan, M. Carey; P. O’Brien, A. Finnegan (0-1), B. Clarke (0-2), G. Conlon (0-3), J. Sheridan (1-2), C. Macken. Subs S. Clarke for O’Brien, G. McGovern for Byrne
