U-15 Division 2 League Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-13 Walterstown 2-12
The sky may have been almost on the ground in Fr. Tully Park on Sunday morning as the November fog lay across the field but the U-15 footballers of Seneschalstown and Walterstown lit the ground up with a scintillating semi-final which ultimately went down to the death as it wasn’t until the eightieth minute of the game that the home side hit the front for the first time since the sixteenth minute.
U-15 Division 2 League Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-13 Walterstown 2-12
The sky may have been almost on the ground in Fr. Tully Park on Sunday morning as the November fog lay across the field but the U-15 footballers of Seneschalstown and Walterstown lit the ground up with a scintillating semi-final which ultimately went down to the death as it wasn’t until the eightieth minute of the game that the home side hit the front for the first time since the sixteenth minute.
Walterstown looked like making every post a winning post to borrow a horse racing turn of phrase but despite being three down at the extra time interval the Seneschalstown youngsters displayed remarkable reserves of character to chip away at the gap and record four points in that second half to edge in front at the very end.
There were just sixteen seconds on the clock when Walterstown edged in front at the start of the game when they pointed at the railway end and this lead was soon two when they popped over another from play. Centre forward Sean Commons registered his side’s first point of the match when on four minutes he curled over off his left foot following great play from Sean Carey, Daire Finnegan, Jason Lyons, Adam O’Mara and Dylan Keating. The aforementioned Keating then gave his side a huge boost when he illuminated the match with a stunning finish for goal as he gave the Walterstown goalkeeper no chance when pulling the trigger.
Walterstown hit back with a point but this was soon cancelled out when Alan Mulvany ventured forward from midfield to pop over the bar. This score seemed to spark something in the boys in black and they went on a scoring burst which saw them garner two goals and three points in the remainder of the half with only a Sean Commons point coming in reply for Seneschalstown. Firstly they tagged on three points, one from a free before capitalising on a stray free kick to launch a counter attack and grab their first goal. Commons pointed as he attempted to stem the flow but when one of the home side’s corner backs was unlucky to be caught out by a booming delivery Walterstown raised a second green flag and had moved into a sizable six point lead, 2-06 to 1-03.
Trailing by six Seneschalstown needed a quick start to the second half and they set about getting this when Alan Mulvany knocked over a free following a foul on the dangerous Dylan Keating. Their aspirations of making the comeback soon received a boon when following a Keating free which dropped in the square the ball bounced around as though it were in a pinball machine before Cillian Gormley appeared to get the final touch and left it nestling in the net. Game on!
With their gander now up Seneschalstown added another point when Alan Mulvany got on the end of a sweeping move which started with influential full back Joseph Moore before involving Sean Carey, Sean Commons, Jamie Kirwan, Daire Finnegan and Ciaran Lynch and ultimately Mulvany who made no mistake as he pointed. Walterstown looked to quell the rising of the blue tide when popping over a thirteen metre free but Cillian Gormley hunted down what seemed to be a lost cause as he prevented a ball from going out over the end line and then squeezed the ball over the bar from an almost impossible angle.
The diminutive Fionn Hall was now introduced to the attack but just after his arrival Walterstown added another pointed free. The nerves in Fr. Tully Park were now beginning to fray and referee Liam Reddy had to have a quiet word with one mentor from the away club advising him to remain in the dugout for the remainder of the match. Now trailing by two points and with scoring opportunities at a premium Seneschalstown needed their big players to step up to the plate and cometh the hour cometh the man as Dylan Keating showed all his class with the two scores his team required to level matters. Firstly on fifty two minutes he eked his shot inside the right hand upright following good play from Sean Carey, and Alan Mulvany before three minutes later he repeated the feat to draw the team’s level.
In this period of time Jamie Kirwan was another to drive his team forward as he constantly surged on from his wing back berth, offering an overlap at all times. As well as this Brian Boyd in the goals did very well with time almost up to deal with a dropping ball which looked likely to cause all sorts of consternation in his defence. Extra time was now beckoning and sure enough with sixty two minutes on the clock Liam Reddy blew for full time and confirmed that extra time needed to be played.
Both sets of players looked to regroup in the intervening ten minutes although some panic ensued outside the fence as a few parents realised the extra time would result in them having to miss the end of the game due to the Sunday Roast being in the oven and not wanting to have a burnt Sunday dinner!!
When extra time did get underway it was Walterstown who got off to the brighter start and indeed with just four minutes on the clock they had four points and Seneschalstown looked to be in deep trouble. This though was where the immense character of the team once more came to the fore as they began to claw their way back into the game. On sixty seven minutes Jamie Kirwan, Padraig Finnegan and Dylan Keating linked up well to engineer a shooting chance for Alan Mulvany and he made no mistake as he brought the game back to a one score game with his point. This was to be the last score of the half and left three points in it with ten minutes of extra time remaining.
Seneschalstown were now once more shooting into the railway goals and like they did in the second half of normal time got off to a good start when Dylan Keating knocked over a free following a foul on Daire Geraghty. Alan Mulvany saw a free soon after drift right and wide but on seventy seven minutes he brought the margin back down to a solitary point when he sent over after brilliant play from Joseph Moore, Adam O’Mara and Dylan Keating. Soon the great escape gained momentum when Joseph Moore the gamekeeper for most of the match at full back turned poacher to send an inspirational point over and draw the team’s level once more. Then came the coup de grace as Mulvany arced over the winning point to send his side into the final where they will face Navan O’Mahonys.
On a day when they appeared to be dead and buried on a couple of occasions Seneschalstown were especially well served by Ciaran Lynch, Jamie Kirwan, Joseph Moore, Alan Mulvany and Cillian Gormley.
Seneschalstown: Brian Boyd, Ciaran Lynch, Joseph Moore (0-01), Christian McAuley, Cathal Hickey, Sean Carey, Jamie Kirwan, Daire Finnegan, Alan Mulvany (0-06, 0-02 Frees), Ross Mullen, Sean Commons (0-02), Cillian Gormley (1-01), Dylan Keating (1-03, 0-01 Free), Jason Lyons, Adam O’Mara.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Fionn Hall for R. Mullen, Padraig Finnegan for J. Lyons,
Seneschalstown Substitution (ET): Ross Mullen for C. Lynch.
