Under 15 Football League Division 1 Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-10 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 1-09
From the moment Cian Commons found the Donaghmore/Ashbourne net inside 15 seconds of the throw-in, Seneschalstown were never headed as they booked their place in the final of the U15 Football League Division 1. This early strike provided Seneschalstown with a cushion throughout, and some resolute defending coupled with clinical counter attacking ensured the team will face St. Colmcille’s in next week’s final.
Under 15 Football League Division 1 Semi-Final
Seneschalstown 2-10 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 1-09
From the moment Cian Commons found the Donaghmore/Ashbourne net inside 15 seconds of the throw-in, Seneschalstown were never headed as they booked their place in the final of the U15 Football League Division 1. This early strike provided Seneschalstown with a cushion throughout, and some resolute defending coupled with clinical counter attacking ensured the team will face St. Colmcille’s in next week’s final.
When Commons grabbed the throw-in, which occurred four minutes ahead of schedule, he took off for the visitors goal. He brushed off a number of challenges before nonchalantly angling the ball across the keeper with the outside of his right boot and into the far corner of the net to give Seneschalstown the most ideal of starts. The hosts built on this strong start when Jamie Norris found his range in the second minute with a point from play.
As the rain fell, it made handling conditions tough for both sides we had had to wait eight minutes for the next score. Cian Commons was quickest to react to a 45’ which had dropped short of the Donaghmore/Ashbourne goal. Commons quickly turned to engineer the opportunity for himself to score. The away side went up the other end of the field and opened their account from a pointed free. Commons responded likewise for the hosts, and he was instrumental in the next point as he set up Jamie Norris for his second point of the game, leaving the Boynesiders 1-04 to 0-01 to the good.
When the game resumed after the water break, the Dublin border side registered their second point of the hour. However, the aforementioned Commons was about to provide the key score for the hour as he rattled the Donaghmore net for a second time. After a mazy run by hard working wing forward Colin Scanlon, he laid the ball off to the onrushing Commons and he did the rest, finishing low to the bottom left corner of the net. To their credit though, Donaghmore/Ashbourne finished the half strongly by kicking three points on the spin which left Seneschalstown with a five point advantage at half-time, 2-04 to 0-05.
The early exchanges of the second half were tight, with both teams giving little in the way of scoring opportunities, hence we had to wait 11 minutes for the score to be posted during this period. After a goalmouth scramble in the Donaghmore/Ashbourne square, the ball eventually ended up with Charles McCarthy who hoisted over a fine point for the eventual winners. The visitors’ managed to get their first score of the half with a close range free, but Seneschalstown had opened up a more comfortable gap by the 50th minute, with two further points from dead ball situations. Liam Dillon put his name on the scoresheet with a 30 metre free after another surging run from Commons, before roles were reversed with Commons converting a free when Dillon was on the receiving end of a meaty challenge.
Donaghmore did their best to work some goal scoring opportunities for themselves but had to be content with a pair of white flags as their time for a comeback was running out. After Colin Scanlon was impeded in a central position, Commons was successful with another free to boost Seneschalstown’s advantage, before Scanlon clipped over a tidy point from the right hand side when under pressure from a number of defenders. Again, the home side’s lead was seven points but to their credit Donaghmore reeled off a quick 1-01 to make for a nervy finish in injury time. However, the Seneschalstown defence stood firm and the team were able to carve out one final opportunity for Cian Hosie to put over the insurance score and seal their passage to the Division 1 final against St. Colmcille’s.
This was a confident display from Seneschalstown who led from pillar to post, and who will know they need to repeat this performance to beat the East Meath outfit in the decider.
Seneschalstown: Colm McDonnell, Lorcan Lawlor, Seán Reilly, Alex Sheridan, Tadhg Lenehan, Phillip Smyth, Seán Davis, Cian Commons (2-04, 3fs), Liam Dillon (0-01, f), Colin Scanlon (0-01), Aaron Carey, Charles McCarthy (0-01), Jack McDonnell, Cian Hosie (0-01), Jamie Norris (0-02).
Subs Used: Jamie Barry, Peter Geraghty, Matthew Cowley, Owen McGaughran, James Shareky
