Meath U-16 Division 2 League Round 4
Seneschalstown 0-14 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 0-10
Meath U-16 Division 2 League Round 4
Seneschalstown 0-14 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 0-10
On a perfect evening for football the U-16 players from Seneschalstown and Drumconrath/Meath Hill served up a game full of teak tough defending and well taken scores. On a night when both defences were determined to avoid the concession of a goal there were some excellent examples of well executed tackles and last gasp goal line clearances. Undoubtedly a huge turning point of the match though was when the North Meath youngsters lost one of their inspirational midfielders to an injury sustained at the throw in for the commencement of the second period. His side led by two points at this stage but from the time he was forced to leave the field of play the home side gradually began to get on top around the middle, with Robert Wogan driving them forward at every opportunity.
If the first half of the game was to be remembered for two aspects it would be the clinical shooting of the combination outfit and the often wastefulness of the Seneschalstown efforts on goal. Indeed by the time Adam O’Mara raised his sides first white flag after twelve minutes the visitors had hit four points and the home side half a dozen wides. Drumconrath/Meath Hill opened the scoring after a minute with a point from play before tapping over two frees on two and five minutes. An eleventh minute effort from play gave them a superb start before O’Mara, after Daire Finnegan had spotted him in space, turned on the afterburners to race through the defence and split the posts. Cathal Finnegan soon added a point of his own to leave two between the teams before the youngsters from the Monaghan border added another free. Wogan pointed his first of the day from a placed ball on nineteen minutes to leave two between the sides at the end of the opening third.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill replied with a point of their own before midfielder Brian Maguire was narrowly wide with a goal scoring chance. Finnegan, who was the subject of some robust tackling throughout tagged on a free after being fouled but this score was immediately replied to with an effort from play before Wogan brought the first half scoring to a close with a free. This left the visitors with a two point advantage at the interval, 0-07 to 0-05.
The visitors were then dealt a huge blow when losing their midfielder upon the resumption, although the opening exchanges of the half remained very much of the tit for tat nature scoring wise. Dylan Keating opened the scoring when embarking on a mazy run before pointing squeezing his shot just inside the right hand upright. Drumconrath/Meath Hill hit back with two pointed frees either side of a Robert Wogan effort from play. Jason Lyons, who had been having a very effective game at corner forward flashed over a well taken score before the third quarter ended with what turned out to be the away sides last point of the match.
From here to the death, as the sun rapidly disappeared from view Seneschalstown managed to first haul themselves back onto level terms before eventually pulling clear. Cathal Finnegan pointed from a free, which was awarded after he was hacked down thirty metres out from goal. On fifty minutes Wogan struck over from play to level affairs and then he edged the Seneschalstown youngsters ahead when converting a free after Finnegan was yet again taken out. Andre Norton then marked his introduction with a cleverly taken score before the combination act of Finnegan being fouled and Wogan slotting the free came into effect again. Then, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Robert Wogan applied the coup de grace when from way out on the right hand side his shot hopped on the edge of the square before clearing the crossbar to push his side into a four point lead.
On an evening when Seneschalstown had to battle very hard for the full sixty five minutes they had excellent performances from Eoin Traynor at wing back, Wogan at midfield and Sean Carey at corner back. Next up for them is a Round 5 game away to Wolfe Tones in Gibbstown on Tuesday April 28th.
Seneschalstown: Keith Waters, Sean Carey, Daire Finnegan, Christian McAuley, Eoin Traynor, Richard McKeown, Fionn Hall, Robert Wogan (0-07, 0-04 Frees), Brian Maguire, Adam O’Mara (0-01), Dylan Keating (0-01), Jason Kearney, Jason Lyons (0-01), Cathal Finnegan (0-03, 0-02 Frees), Brian Boyd.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Andre Norton for J. Kearney, Cillian Gormley for F. Hall, James Commons for Jason Lyons
