Meath U-16 Division 1 League Round 7
Seneschalstown 1-07 St. Peter’s Dunboyne 3-07
On what turned into an evening reminiscent of deepest November rather than early May Seneschalstown’s U-16’s fell to a six point defeat at the hands of the unbeaten Dunboyne side in Fr. Tully Park. Conditions were blustery at the outset but by the time Andrew Lenehan had sounded the full time whistle the rain had been falling for quite a while in torrents, leaving the conditions very difficult for both sides.
Meath U-16 Division 1 League Round 7
Seneschalstown 1-07 St. Peter’s Dunboyne 3-07
On what turned into an evening reminiscent of deepest November rather than early May Seneschalstown’s U-16’s fell to a six point defeat at the hands of the unbeaten Dunboyne side in Fr. Tully Park. Conditions were blustery at the outset but by the time Andrew Lenehan had sounded the full time whistle the rain had been falling for quite a while in torrents, leaving the conditions very difficult for both sides.
Lining out minus the services of Adam O’Mara, Brian Boyd and Jason Lyons as well as the continuing absence of players like Ciaran Lynch and Seanie Dalton this was a test of the strength of the Seneschalstown panel. Regular wing forward Joseph Moore had to don the goalkeeping gloves in Boyd’s enforced absence while up front Padraig Finnegan and U-14 star Liam Maguire were drafted in.
The prevailing wind blew predominantly into the corner of the ground where the scoreboard is positioned but playing into this Seneschalstown started brightly and had a point on the board in the second half as Ross Mullen struck. Dunboyne possess a free taker of note and he got his side off the mark two minutes later when comfortably converting a forty-five. Full forward Padraig Finnegan almost got in for a well worked goal but saw the goalkeeper advance off his line to make a smart stop. A second Dunboyne forty-five and a fisted point saw the visitors edge into a two point lead but Alan Mulvany brought that back down to one on twenty minutes when he got on the end of a fast paced move started when Daire Finnegan caught a Joseph Moore kickout and continued through Dylan Keating, Finnegan, Ross Mullen before the corner forward picked out Mulvany who pointed.
Padraig Finnegan was causing the Dunboyne defence some issues and four minutes before the interval he was brought to ground, resulting in his side being awarded a penalty. Having converted two in their match last Friday, Dylan Keating stepped up to the mark but he got under his shot and saw it clear the crossbar to tie the game up at 0-03 apiece. Dunboyne though managed to eke out a one point half time advantage when clipping over on twenty-eight minutes.
Conditions got progressively worse in the second half as the heavens opened but it was the South Meath outfit who got off to the better start as despite now playing into the prevailing wind they extended their lead out to 2-05 to 0-03 by the forty third minute as they struck for two goals, one of which after possession was cheaply coughed up from a Seneschalstown free.
Seneschalstown are a spirited side and weren’t going to give up the ghost easily and began to work their way back into proceeding when Alan Mulvany sent over a long range free and then wing forward Cillian Gormley sent over a fine score to reduce their deficit to six points with a quarter of the match remaining. Dylan Keating then got in for a goal to pull it back to three and suddenly a comeback seemed on. Dunboyne were determined however not to let their unbeaten record slip and they pulled back ahead by six when netting with five minutes remaining.
Alan Mulvany replied with a point before a huge wind assisted Sean Carey score to give Seneschalstown hope but Dunboyne clinically closed the game out with two further points in the dying minutes of the game by which stage some spectators had turned on the lights on their cars to see the game such was the ever darkening sky and the difficulty they had seeing the match with the rain pelting down.
On a night when Seneschalstown couldn’t be faulted for their application but failed to get the rub of the green on occasions they were best served by Simon Rooney who was once more a colossus at full back, Sean Carey and Daire Finnegan while Christian McAuley was another who enjoyed a fine outing.
Seneschalstown: Joseph Moore, Cathal Hickey, Simon Rooney, Jamie Kirwan, Christian McAuley, Ciaran Mongey, Sean Carey (0-01), Daire Finnegan, Sean Commons, Liam Maguire, Alan Mulvany (0-03, 0-01 Free), Cillian Gormley (0-01), Dylan Keating (1-01, 0-01 Penalty), Padraig Finnegan, Ross Mullen (0-01).
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Fionn Hall for L. Maguire, Josh Ryan for C. McAuley
