Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship Round 5
Seneschalstown 3-15 St. Colmcilles 0-04
Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship Round 5
Seneschalstown 3-15 St. Colmcilles 0-04
Seneschalstown and St. Colmcilles met in Ashbourne on Friday evening a year to the day from when the sides met in the 2013 Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship. As with the result in Stamullen last year it was the Seneschalstown men who emerged victorious, this time with a very comfortable margin. The foundations for this win were laid during an impressive opening thirty minutes when they outscored their opponents by one goal and nine points to a solitary point.
The returning to action Peter Waters opened the scoring when finishing to the back of the net after being fed by Robert Darby who had scythed open the Laytown outfits defence with a blistering run. St. Colmcilles kicked their only score of the half two minutes later from the right of the goalposts. Player manager David Hosie picked off his first point of the evening from a free after a foul on Darby before Waters added to his earlier goal with a point after Darby had again laid the groundwork for the score.
Adam Gleeson kicked the best score of the match soon after. Stephen Finnegan got on the ball around the middle of the field and after assessing his options he spotted Adam Carey in space out on the left. Carey then drilled a low ball infield to Gleeson who turned and bisected the posts from all of forty five metres. Midfielder Jonathan Gilsenan tagged on another after working an angle for himself before shooting over the bar. James Conlon closed out the opening quarter with his first of the match, when showing good strength to break a tackle and firing over the bar instead of going for goal.
The one sided nature of the scoring continued as Gerry McKendry, moving upfield from his centre half back berth linked up well with Hosie before kicking Seneschalstown into a nine point lead after only seventeen minutes. Gilsenan added another after getting on the end of Darby’s fourth assist of the half. The creator turned scorer for the next point when Darby fisted over after getting the ball from Adam Gleeson.
James Conlon scored Seneschalstown’s final point of the half on twenty seven minutes but there was still time for a couple of golden goal scoring opportunities to be missed as the St. Colmcilles goalkeeper pulled off some fine stops.
These missed goal scoring opportunities were atoned for with only seventeen seconds elapsed on the stopwatch at the outset of the second period of the game. Peter Waters won a long ball into the forward line, laid the ball off to the onrushing Gilsenan who then slipped it through to Darby who buried it into the back of the net low to the goalies right hand side.
Just as they had done in the first half St. Colmcilles responded to the early goal with a point from play as they brought their twenty seven minute scoring drought to a close. Conlon though replied to this score with another point. Adam Carey played a high ball up the left sideline to Kevin Casey who after collecting possession delivered a low ball in front of Conlon who turned his man before kicking a fine point.
A seven minute without either side registering a score then followed before Darby intercepted a pass coming out of the St. Colmcilles defence. Darby passed to Conlon who then shipped the ball onto Gilsenan whose shot appeared to take a slight deflection before looping over the crossbar. David Hosie then kicked another free before St. Colmcilles brought their tally to tree points entering the final quarter before grabbing their fourth on forty eight minutes.
Fresh from playing in the previous evening’s Junior D semi-final Darragh Keogh was then introduced and it was he who would claim Seneschalstown’s third goal of the evening. Good work out the field from Kevin Casey and James Conlon saw Keogh presented with the goal scoring opportunity and he made no mistake. Fellow second half sub Brendan Lynch kicked a very well worked individual point with time running out before Conlon brought the scoring for the evening to a close with his fourth of the evening from play in stoppage time.
On an evening when the Seneschalstown rear-guard wasn’t overly tested the Conor Cowley marked his return to Championship action with a power packed display at full back as he dominated the edge of the square while Casey and Gilsenan dominated the airways around the middle of the field. Up front Darby, Conlon and Waters had excellent outings but as the competition moves towards the knock out stages the team will be all too aware that stiffer challenges lie ahead.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Peter Waters 1-01, Robert Darby 1-01, James Conlon 0-04, Darragh Keogh 1-00, David Hosie 0-03 (0-03 Frees), Jonathan Gilsenan 0-03, Gerry McKendry 0-01, Adam Gleeson 0-01, Brendan Lynch 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Wesley McDonagh, Mark Fox, Conor Cowley, Damien McDonnell, Neil Darby, Gerard McKendry, Adam Carey, Kevin Casey, Jonathan Gilsenan, Robert Darby, Stephen Finnegan, Adam Gleeson, James Conlon, David Hosie, Peter Waters.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Ronan Conneely for D. Hosie, Stephen Dillon for A. Carey, Brendan Lynch for R. Darby, Darragh Keogh for S. Finnegan, Peter Tierney for D. McDonnell.
