A League Division 1 Round 11
St. Patrick’s 2-14 Seneschalstown 1-11
Going into this game which was played in near perfect conditions in Stamullen both sides harboured ambitions of coming second in the League, thereby gaining themselves a spot in the semi-final against the third placed team. Seneschalstown were on the back of a long unbeaten run and of late had been playing an enterprising brand of football but in the midsummer sun saw the wind taken out of their sails as the hosts earned themselves a well-deserved six point victory.
A League Division 1 Round 11
St. Patrick’s 2-14 Seneschalstown 1-11
Going into this game which was played in near perfect conditions in Stamullen both sides harboured ambitions of coming second in the League, thereby gaining themselves a spot in the semi-final against the third placed team. Seneschalstown were on the back of a long unbeaten run and of late had been playing an enterprising brand of football but in the midsummer sun saw the wind taken out of their sails as the hosts earned themselves a well-deserved six point victory.
The almost ever present breeze in Stamullen made life tricky enough for both sets of attackers but to the credit of the two teams they managed to convert a high percentage of the scoring chances created throughout the hour, with the ability of the home side to create the more chances proving crucial as Seneschalstown turned in a strangely flat performance.
St. Pats it was who opened the scoring on five minutes when they converted a free but this was almost immediately cancelled out when Bryan Clarke, fresh from his honeymoon sent over from play. The home side edged back in front soon after when they raided down the right flank only to see their lead wiped out when Adam Gleeson after exchanging a one two with the rampaging wing back Niall Hickey sent a rocket of a shot which cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the goal line.
The tit for tat nature of the opening exchanges continued when on nine minutes St. Pats raised their first green flag of the evening to draw level. Seneschalstown almost grabbed a second goal of the opening quarter soon after but while Gleeson’s effort had gone in off the bar, Bryan Clarke saw his ricochet back outfield and when Johnny Gilsenan gathered the rebound he saw his goal effort blocked before firing wide when trying to point with the third shot of the move.
St. Pat’s knocked over a free on thirteen minutes before Seneschalstown suffered a big blow when wing forward Gleeson was given a black card by Peter O’Halloran after he brought his opponent to ground. The lively Adam Carey struck a sweet score to bring it back to one point between the sides before on twenty-four minutes Bryan Clarke sent over a free following a foul on Damien Sheridan as he broke through. Pat’s though struck the front once more on twenty-six minutes when they registered a goal which will rankle with the Seneschalstown defence who will feel it’s one that they should have prevented.
Bryan Clarke sought to narrow the deficit when popping over two points in the lead in towards half time, one from a free and the other from play but St. Pat’s also managed to register one to leave two points between the sides when Peter O’Halloran sounded the half time whistle, St. Pat’s 2-04 Seneschalstown 1-05.
The St. Pat’s advantage soon became three after the resumption of play but Seneschalstown whittled it back down to one when first Niall Groome and then Brian Sheridan gave the umpires cause to raise the white flag, Sheridan’s score coming after Adam Carey intercepted a stray kickout. From there though it was the men in green and white who took charge as they hoisted over six points from play in a fourteen minute spell where Seneschalstown struggled to get a grip in proceedings.
The Boynesiders did manage to stage a mini revival as they kicked three points via the boots of Clarke from a free, Clarke from play and Johnny Gilsenan who sent his shot just over the crossbar when he may have had goal on his mind. The possibility of a comeback was now becoming a larger possibility but the momentum garnered by these three points was checked when a St. Pat’s player went down with an injury which required a couple of moments attention and offered them a chance to regroup. They further checked the Seneschalstown momentum when knocking over a free and while Clarke sent over a forty-five to leave five between the teams St. Pat’s had the final say when they kicked the last point of the evening deep into stoppage time.
Best for Seneschalstown were John Smith, David Matthews and Niall Groome. Next up for them is their Feis Cup semi-final on Thursday against Simonstown Gaels at 19:30 in Páirc Tailteann.
Seneschalstown: David Lyons, Niall McCabe, Cormac Noonan, James Byrne, Niall Hickey, John Smith, David Matthews, Joe Sheridan, Damien Sheridan, Adam Gleeson (1-00), Brian Sheridan (0-01), Adam Carey (0-01), Jonathan Gilsenan (0-01), Niall Groome (0-01), Bryan Clarke (0-07, 0-03 Frees, 0-01 ‘45).
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Eoin Finnegan for A. Gleeson (bc)
