Meath Junior D Football Championship Group C Round 5
Seneschalstown 3-16 Drumconrath 1-08
Castletown provided the setting on Thursday evening for the Round 5 clash between Drumconrath and Seneschalstown in the Meath Junior D Football Championship. With both sides tied at the top of Group C after four rounds this was a match to decide which team would top the group before the quarter final stage of the competition.
Meath Junior D Football Championship Group C Round 5
Seneschalstown 3-16 Drumconrath 1-08
Castletown provided the setting on Thursday evening for the Round 5 clash between Drumconrath and Seneschalstown in the Meath Junior D Football Championship. With both sides tied at the top of Group C after four rounds this was a match to decide which team would top the group before the quarter final stage of the competition.
Having played out an excellent B League Division 5 match only nine days earlier when Seneschalstown emerged victorious in Drumconrath on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-13 all present in the crowd were expecting to witness another tight encounter although the Drumconrath supporters were concerned that the absence of some key personnel would prove a difficult cross to bear.
The North Meath men were quickly off the mark when pointing from play after only thirty five seconds but it was not long until the Seneschalstown forwards began to find their stride. Two minutes later when a point was the easy option corner forward Tommy Duggan opted to try his luck when going for a goal and managed to find the back of the net after the goalkeeper was unable to keep the ball out in spite of getting a touch to it. Duggan’s goal came after he had fielded a rebound off the post from a Colin Lynch effort for point before exchanging a one two with Mark Gilsenan. The Seneschalstown lead was soon out to nine after a point from Brendan Lynch before Colin Lynch opened his account after a good team move in which Cormac Mullen gathered the ball in his defence before laying the ball off to Gilsenan who found Aled Ingman with his trusty left peg. Ingman then found Lynch with a handpass before he fired over the bar. Ingman then had a forty five metre free which somewhat fortuitously found its way to the onion bag after the goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the ball as it dropped short and bounced into the net. Gilsenan then added his name to the scoresheet after he latched onto a spilled ball following a driving burst forward from Brendan Lynch and turned and slotted the ball between the uprights.
Drumconrath were to enjoy a purple patch between the nineteenth and twenty third minutes when recording a goal and two points. Their scoring burst started off with a pointed effort from play before their major came when following a tussle between their full forward and the Seneschalstown full back the ball was diverted past Shane Corbally into the bottom right hand corner. This goal was soon added to with another point from play to bring their first half scoring to a close.
Talented minor Ronan Conneely picked off his first point of the day soon after following a move started by a textbook Steven Dillon tackle in his centre half back berth before Conneely was placed for the score by Colin Lynch. Ingman now operating at midfield following a series of switches which had also seen Darragh Keogh move to the edge of the square added two on the trot, one from a free after intense pressure in the tackle from the Seneschalstown forwards had forced a free for over carrying and Keogh got the last score of the half when pointing from play in stoppage time.
The men from the banks of the Boyne commenced the second half in the same manner that they had ended the first as Colin Lynch and Conneely proved almost unmarkable at times. Conneely opened the scoring before half time substitute Joey Macken set up Lynch for another point. Connelly quickly added another before Mark Gilsenan, now operating as a playmaking centre forward added his second. Lynch then added two more from play as Seneschalstown moved into the final third of the match firmly in the driving seat.
The Drumconrath forwards never stopped battling and they notched two points in a minute before Conneely struck his fourth of the day. Mark Keating, a solid presence throughout, started the move for this score found the foraging Tommy Duggan with an accurate pass before he set up Connelly for the point. Shaun Doyle, often a good bet to pick off a score gained reward for always offering himself as an outlet for a pass when he grabbed two points with his right foot, the first of which he curled over with the assistance of the left hand post. A surging run from Ingman led to his second goal of the day soon after before Drumconrath grabbed the last two scores of the day when pointing twice, once from a free at the death.
Mattie McCabe’s charges will be delighted to have ended the group stages with a 100% record and will be confident of going further in the championship. However they will be acutely aware that they defeated an understrength Drumconrath side this evening and that tough tests will lie ahead of them if they are to go one better than last year when defeated in Sean Newman Park by Kilmainhamwood in the final.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Aled Ingman 2-02 (1-01 Frees), Ronan Conneely 0-04, Colin Lynch 0-04, Thomas Duggan 1-00, Mark Gilsenan 0-02, Shaun Doyle 0-02, Darragh Keogh 0-01, Brendan Lynch 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Shane Corbally, Louis McAuley, Mark Keating, Shane Gargan, Shaun Doyle, Steven Dillon, Cormac Mullen, Robbie Waters, Darragh Keogh, Brendan Lynch, Aled Ingman, Ronan Conneely, Colin Lynch, Mark Gilsenan, Thomas Duggan.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Joey Macken for D. Keogh, Mark Gleeson for B. Lynch, Ian Carey for S. Dillon, Ian Carroll for R. Waters, Shane Mulvany for M. Gilsenan, Ruairí Keogh for R. Conneely.
