Kepak Senior Footballl Championship Round 2
Seneschalstown 0-12 Simonstown Gaels 0-12
Kepak Senior Footballl Championship Round 2
Seneschalstown 0-12 Simonstown Gaels 0-12
Stacey Grimes came to Seneschalstown’s rescue with three injury time points to snatch her side a draw with former champions Simonstown Gaels, played in Seneschalstown on Sunday morning. With the scoreboard reading 0-12 to 0-9 in the Navan side’s favour after 62 minutes, it looked like they had done enough to claim their first win of the Championship. With some lengthy stoppages in the second half, Seneschalstown knew time was on their side even as the clock ticked beyond the 60 minute mark and they timed their run perfectly to get themselves out of the difficult position they were in. Grimes, as ever, punished some slack defending from the visitors with a pair of frees in the 62nd and 63rd minutes to reduce the gap to the minimum. Then, in the 67th minute she made space for herself about 35 metres to the right of the posts and hoisted a shot towards the posts using the breeze to her advantage. The roar from the dugout told us all we needed to know as the white flag went up and the scores were level for the final time. The result means Seneschalstown know a draw, or better in their final group game away to Royal Gaels will guarantee their passage to the last four.
A strong diagonal breeze blowing away from the Railway End played havoc with the shooting of both teams at times, and Seneschalstown played with the aid of this breeze in the opening half. Despite playing against the elements, Simonstown made the better start and two placed balls got them up and running for the hour. Seneschalstown took ten minutes to score, which came courtesy of Charlie Murray who got the end of a move to split the posts. Stacey Grimes followed up with her first point of the hour from a free, with the home side quickly adding the point of the game two minutes later. When Robyn Murray palmed away a dropping ball to Leanne Clarke, the ball was transitioned through the hands the whole way up the pitch. Eventually, Grimes was the one who picked a direct running line at the heart of the defence, received the last pass and popped the ball over the bar. It was greeted a huge roar of approval from the home crowd. The teams were level at 0-03 apiece at the water break, following another Simonstown free.
In the 10 minutes after the water break, the hosts reeled off four points in a row to move into a 0-07 to 0-03 lead. Grimes got the run going with a pointed free and Anna Wogan got on the scoresheet with a point from close range, where she was unlucky the shot wasn’t slightly lower to find the net. Charlie Murray added her second of the game to move her side three clear, which was made four by Amy Gilsenan in the 29th minute after being set up by Orla Finnegan. The visitors closed out half with another free, leaving a goal between the sides at the interval.
With the wind now to their advantage, Simonstown made the most of it in the early stages, clawing themselves back level with three points on the trot, including their first point from play in the 38th minute. Seneschalstown were struggling to get the ball into their forwards while playing into the wind but managed to get themselves two key scores before the water break. Firstly, Róisín Commons showed well to receive a quick free, brush off a tackle and angle her shot between the posts for a badly needed score. From the resultant kickout, Seneschalstown pressed up on the Simonstown defence and managed to force a turnover high up the pitch, with the ball ending up in the hands of Charlie Murray who completed the job by adding Seneschalstown’s ninth point of the game.
There were a few stoppages after the water break which meant there wasn’t another score for 11 minutes, but Simonstown broke the duck with a point to leave one between the sides. With the wind causing Seneschalstown problems with kickouts and other passes when they went short, Simonstown penned Seneschalstown inside their 45 and were able to pick off four further points to move themselves into what looked like a winning position, before Grimes late salvo of points earned Seneschalstown a well-deserved draw.
Seneschalstown: Robyn Murray, Leanne Clarke, Aoife Lenehan, Aisling Taaffe, Meadhbh Hickey, Eve Wardick, Caragh Monaghan, Kiah Geraghty, Aoibhe Monaghan, Orla Finnegan, Stacey Grimes (0-06, 4fs), Charlie Murray (0-03), Anna Wogan (0-01), Róisín Commons (0-01), Amy Gilsenan (0-01).
Subs Used: Mena Sheridan for Commons, Zoe Kirwan for Gilsenan, Megan Clarke for Lenehan, Commons for Wardick.
