Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship Group C Round 4
Seneschalstown 2-11 Dunderry 4-03
Seneschalstown maintained their unbeaten record in the 2015 Seamus Connolly Catering JBFC when surviving a shaky performance to eventually overcome Dunderry by two points in Kilmainham on Sunday afternoon. With conditions very blustery over the hour it they were not conducive to free flowing football and what transpired were a multitude of misplaced, passes as players on both sides struggled to get to grips with the gusting wind.
Seamus Connolly Catering Meath Junior B Football Championship Group C Round 4
Seneschalstown 2-11 Dunderry 4-03
Seneschalstown maintained their unbeaten record in the 2015 Seamus Connolly Catering JBFC when surviving a shaky performance to eventually overcome Dunderry by two points in Kilmainham on Sunday afternoon. With conditions very blustery over the hour it they were not conducive to free flowing football and what transpired were a multitude of misplaced, passes as players on both sides struggled to get to grips with the gusting wind.
The 2014 beaten finalists were first off the mark when veteran Shane Clarke who was to go on to put in a barnstorming performance pointed a free and backed by the strong breeze Jonathan Gilsenan hit his sides second on seven minutes when he split the posts after firing the ball over his left shoulder at the end of a move which started when wing back Niall McCabe cleaned up a dangerous breaking ball in the Seneschalstown goalmouth before launching a counterattack which ended when Ronan Conneely expertly picked Gilsenan out with a brilliant foot pass for the full forward to point. Scores were not quite coming thick and fast as Dunderry quickly funnelled bodies back behind the ball as they looked to shore up their defence playing into the wind and Seneschalstown kicked a succession of wides. On the quarter hour Seneschalstown kicked a quick-fire brace of points when first Stephen Finnegan and then Shane Clarke kicked points to stretch their advantage to four points.
This four point lead didn’t last too long as when a Seneschalstown attack broke down a Dunderry player looked up to realise he had a vast amount of open space in front of him. After he carried the ball forward he drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net and all of a sudden there was but a point in the difference and Seneschalstown were rueing the number of wides kicked so far. Dunderry were now beginning to grow into the game and in the four minutes to half time from the twenty sixth, the two sides shared four points evenly, with Shane Clarke kicking the two for Seneschalstown, one of which came from play.
Upon the resumption Seneschalstown extended their lead to two points with just fifty five seconds on the clock when Ross Howard popped over from out on the right but this lead was to be very short-lived as just two minutes later, Dunderry hit the front for the first time when their corner forward left Shane Corbally with no chance in the Seneschalstown net after he had caught the ball and turned to shoot without a hand being laid on him. Jonathan Gilsenan instantly drew the sides level when chipping over off the outside of his right boot and then minutes later Seneschalstown raised their first white flag of the day when after being picked out in space by Niall McCabe the returning James Conlon saw his shot for goal saved but Ross Howard was on hand to sweep the rebound home.
Shane Clarke then pointed a free following a foul on Brendan Lynch but his side were soon to be rocked by the concession of a third goal. When a raking delivery was sent raining down on the Seneschalstown goalmouth in the wind consternation broke out in the defence and when the ball broke out Dunderry had a free forward who gleefully made no mistake to grab a goal. Just as they had done when conceding the second goal the Yellow Furze side immediately hit back with a point, this one coming from Brendan Lynch but this score was soon cancelled out by Dunderry’s third point of the day.
Ronan Conneely had enjoyed one of his stronger performances of the year and a driving run forward from wing back brought reward when he drew a foul to earn Shane Clarke another point scoring opportunity, the type of which he never turns down. They then looked to put the icing on their victory when with two minutes of the hour remaining after a patient build up Joe Cowley spotted Aled Ingman making a run inside the Dunderry full back line and after Cowley picked him out with a long deliver Ingman let the ball bounce once before burying the ball into the back of the net for what looked like the insurance score. There was still time left for another twist in the narrative of the game when Dunderry notched a fourth goal in stoppage time but there was time for no further plot twists as from the kickout the final whistle was blown much to the relief of the Seneschalstown camp.
Seneschalstown Scorers: Shane Clarke 0-06 (0-04 Frees), Ross Howard 1-01, Aled Ingman 1-00, Jonathan Gilsenan 0-02, Stephen Finnegan 0-01, Brendan Lynch 0-01.
Seneschalstown: Shane Corbally, Sean McCabe, Adam Gargan, Peter Tierney, Ronan Conneely, Joe Cowley, Niall McCabe, Darragh Keogh, Stephen Finnegan, Brendan Lynch, Shane Clarke, Ross Howard, Ciaran Macken, Jonathan Gilsenan, James Conlon.
Seneschalstown Substitutions: Ruairí Keogh for P. Tierney, Aled Ingman for J. Conlon, Damien McDonnell for N. McCabe.
