Meath U-16 Summer League Division 2 Round 2
Skryne 1-11 Seneschalstown 1-08
Meath U-16 Summer League Division 2 Round 2
Skryne 1-11 Seneschalstown 1-08
Skryne was the venue for this Summer League Division 2 game played in difficult conditions on Tuesday evening. With a steady, misty rain falling throughout handling conditions were poor while players on both sides often found it difficult to keep their footing on the greasy surface. Seneschalstown were short of numbers due to some players being either on holidays or in the case of goalkeeper Keith Waters, being out with a broken wrist but despite only having thirteen players put in a battling performance over the hour, only losing out when conceding an unfortunate goal two minutes from the end of the regulation sixty.
With Seneschalstown only having thirteen players, Skryne were forced to line out with the same number due to the Fair Play rules and indeed when Seneschalstown lost influential forward Cathal Finnegan to injury in the second half both sides had to finish the game with twelve players. Skryne had some substitutes to introduce during the game and it was one of these players who with the help of his fresh legs eventually netted the decisive goal.
In the difficult conditions the scoring rate throughout the game was quite low but the players on both sides must be credited for the high workrate which they displayed allied to the fact that they regularly put their bodies on the line, something exemplified by Finnegan who battled on for much of the game while clearly hampered by an injury.
Skryne were first off the mark in the game when opening their account with a fourth minute free but Seneschalstown were to get off to a brilliant start when after Cathal Finnegan received a shoulder in the back his side were awarded a penalty which Robert Wogan drove to the back of the net. Alan Mulvany, operating at wing back but with a clear licence to get forward at every opportunity, extended his sides lead to three points when bisecting the posts after Dylan Keating had shown great strength to out battle his opponent before placing Mulvany for the scoring opportunity.
Skryne were creating plenty of scoring chances but finding them difficult to convert and were delighted to add two points to their tally approaching the end of the first quarter before in the twenty fourth minute Robert Wogan ended a nine minute spell without a score when pointing after good work from Sean Carey and Richard McKeown, two players who put in sterling performances over the hour in defence.
Cathal Finnegan then hit a rapid-fire brace of points when firstly fielding a loose clearance before punishing it and then sending a twenty five metre free over off the ground. In stoppage time at the end of the half Skryne did manage to pull two points back when sending over in the thirty first and thirty third minutes to leave the score at the interval reading Seneschalstown 1-04 Skryne 0-05.
Upon the resumption Seneschalstown managed to extend this score differential to four once more when first Cillian Gormley and secondly Brian Maguire fired over before Skryne chipped over their first score of the half with thirty five minutes on the clock. Moments later Skryne could have been back level only for goalkeeper Brian Boyd to display his goalkeeping prowess when pulling off a fine stop. Robert Wogan, back in the side after missing the opening round loss to Longwood/Clonard looked to put some more daylight between the sides when after linking up well with Brian Maguire he sent over but Skryne were gradually getting more on top, something not helped by the enforced loss of Cathal Finnegan.
The home side tagged on three points in a row in a six minute spell between the forty sixth and fifty second minutes from frees as the Seneschalstown team began to tire and the lack of fresh legs began to affect the team. They did have some forays upfield during this spell and on one of these Alan Mulvany got on the end of a very well worked team move to send a point effort over the black spot.
From this point on though Skryne began to lay siege to the Seneschalstown goal and in the fifty seventh minute they reduced the margin between the sides to one when pointing from play before drawing level when adding a free to their total just a minute later. Then with time running out they received a massive slice of fortune when a point effort from one of their substitutes just dropped under the crossbar and into the back of the net in what was a cruel twist of fate for Seneschalstown and incredibly harsh on goalkeeper Brian Boyd who had enjoyed an excellent game between the sticks.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Robert Wogan 1-02 (1-00 Penalty), Alan Mulvany 0-02, Cathal Finnegan 0-02 (0-01 Free), Cillian Gormley 0-01, Brian Maguire 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Brian Boyd, Sean Carey, Daire Finnegan, Eoin Traynor, Richard McKeown, Alan Mulvany, Brian Maguire, Robert Wogan, Cillian Gormley, Cathal Finnegan, Dylan Keating, James Commons, Andre Norton.
